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O
Historical Sketches
OF THE
ROMER, VAN TASSEL AND
ALLIED FAMILIES
AND
TALES OF THE NEUTRAL
GROUND
I » ■ > I >
I - I
Copyright 1917
BY
John Lockwood Romer.
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PREFACE
The editor and compiler of this volume desires to express
his acknowledgment and appreciation of the courtesy of
the writers and publishers whose kind permission to
reproduce the several articles credited to them respectively
has made it possible for him to gather into one sheaf the
fragmentary legends and traditions and bits of family history
relating to the Romer and Van Tassel families of West-
chester County, which have hitherto appeared in print.
Miss Sarah Comstock's article, so much of which as is of
family interest, published herein under the title "A Visit
to Elmsford," appeared originally in the New York Times,
some of it being later incorporated in her "Old Roads from
the Heart of New York," published by G. P. Putnam's
Sons. Its appearance here is by consent of the author and
publishers.
Mrs. B. H. Dean's sketch, "A Bit of the Neutral Ground,"
first appeared in the New York Central Lines' Four Track
News, which has kindly permitted its reproduction.
"How One Hundred and Fifty Dollars Will Save Pa-
triots' Graves" was first published in the New York Evening
Post, September 16, 1911, and that journal consents to its
publication here.
The New York Tribune likewise consents to the repro-
duction of an article entitled, "He Aided Andre's Captors,"
which appeared first in the Tribune of July 6, 1896.
So, also, the Evening Mail gives permission to republish
the story "Where John Andre Was Captured," which was
first published in the Mail and Express, October 12, 1895.
The American Magazine, having succeeded to Frank
Leslie's Monthly, kindly permits the reproduction of
"Heroes of the Neutral Ground," which originally appeared
in the Monthly in July, 1897.
PREFACE
And the Tarrytozvn Argus also consents to the republica-
tion of an article entitled "The Romer Family," written by
Reverend John B. Thompson, D.D., appearing originally in
the Argus, March 9, 1907.
The "Minutes of the Executive Council of the Colony of
New York," "Sketches of Long Island," "Early Long
Island," "History of East Hampton" and the "Souvenir
of Monument Dedication at Tarrytown" have likewise
furnished Interesting material and data for this compilation.
Many of the articles above mentioned were inspired by
visits which their writers made to Colonel John C. L.
Hamilton, of Elmsford, whose delight has been to rescue
from oblivion and disseminate the traditional lore of the
Sawmill River Valley, and whose kindly assistance in the
preparation of this volume is likewise acknowledged.
It has seemed fitting to me that the historical items appear-
ing in this volume should be confided to the safe-keeping of
something more permanent and certain than the voice of
tradition, and so this collection has been made and put into
type in the hope of preserving for the present and future
descendants of Jacob and Frena, of Jan Cornelius and
Catoneras, of John and Leah, of William and Ruth, of
Hector and Polly, of Luther and Minerva, these treasured
stories of their ancestors.
The editor has not attempted to change or modernize the
spelling or style of writing of the articles and records used
in the following pages as the gradual changes and develop-
ment of names and customs seem very interesting.
John Lockwood. Romer..
Buffalo, March, 1917.
CONTENTS
Page
Preface
The Romer Family (by Rev. Dr. Thompson) 1
Captain Jacob Romer
Captain John Romer 16
He Aided Andre's Captors 31
Abraham Martling 34
Christina Van Wormer Romer 36
Jan Cornelius Van Texell 38
Petition of Cornelius Van Texel, et al, 1705 40
Petition of Cornelius Van Texell, et al, 1713 41
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel 43
Letter of General Parsons to General Tryon 48
Reply of General Tryon 49
The Storm Family 52
Sketches from Souvenir Volume — 54
Statement of Lieutenant Samuel Youngs 54
Statement of John Dean 57
The Van Tassel Family 58
The Martling Family 60
Statement of John Yerkes C2
Statement of Mrs. Charity Tompkins 63
Descendants of Captain John Romer - 66
Address by Rev. Dr. Ferguson at Funeral of Alexander Romer 67
Obituary Notice, decease of Caroline Lockwood Romer 68
Obituary Notice, decease of Carrie Romer Windsor 69
Obituary Notice, decease of Isaac J. Romer 69
Where John Andre was Captured 72
A Visit to Elmsford (by Miss Sarah Comstock) 77
A Bit of the Neutral Ground (by Mrs. B. H. Dean) 86
Heroes of the Neutral Ground (by John P. Ritter) 90
How $150.00 Will Save Patriots' Graves 102
Col. (Rev.) Edgar A. Hamilton, Reminiscences 109
Col. John C. L. Hamilton, Reminiscences 122
Wyandance, Grand Sachem of Long Island 12S
Deed, Wyandance to Lyon Gardiner 129
Court Record, Waiandanch, Sachem, versus Jeremy Daily 131
Deed, Sunk Squa, wife of Wiandanch, Wiankombone,
et al, to Inhabitants of East Hampton 134
VII
¥iii CONTENTS
The Hawley Family 137
The Taylor Family 139
In Descent from Elder William Brewster 143
A Brief Account of William Taylor, Jr 145
Obituary, decease of Hector Taylor 147
Obituary, decease of Katherine Taylor Romer 148
The Carter Family 149
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
Book Plate.
Old Dutch Church at Sleepy Hollow Frontispiece
Facing Page
Old Bridge at Sleepy Hollow, Copy of Pen Drawing by
Katherine Taylor Romer 1
Monument to Captain Jacob Romer and wife 13
Portrait of Captain John Romer 16
Map of Locality of Andre's Capture 23
Romer- Van Tassel Homestead 27
Tombstone of Captain John Romer 30
Tombstone of Leah Van Tassel Romer 31
Farcus Hott (Place of Shelter) 47
Tombstone of Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel and of Eliza-
beth Storm, his wife 53
Coat of Arms of the Storm Family 52
Tombstone of Cornelius Romer, son of Captain John Romer.. 66
Portraits of John Romer and Christena Graham, son and
daughter of Captain John Romer 66
Portraits of Alexander Romer and Caroline C. Lockwood,
his wife 67
Portrait of John Lockwood Romer 67
Portrait of Katherine Taylor Romer 67
Tombstone of Alexander Romer and Caroline Lockwood
Romer 68
Portrait of Carrie Romer Windsor 69
Greenburgh Churchyard 76
Portrait of Col. (Rev.) Edgar A. Hamilton 109
Portrait of Col. John C. L. Hamilton 122
Coat of Arms of The Taylor Family 138
Portrait of Virgil Corydon Taylor 139
Portraits of Hector Taylor and Polly Carter, bis wife 144
Portrait of Ann Taylor Foster 145
Monument of John Lockwood Romer 148
OLD BRIDGE AT SLEEPY HOLLOW
COPY OF PEN DRAWING
BY
KATHERINE TAYLOR ROMER
THE ROMER FAMILY.
By John B. Thompson, D. D.
At the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the
eighteenth century such leaders of religious thought in
Europe as Spener, Francke, and others like them, advised
their pious adherents to seek in America refuge from the
persecutions which befell them in their native lands. Those
who followed this advice wrote back such glowing accounts
of life in the new world that multitudes followed them across
the ocean. Land companies were formed to facilitate the
movement. Agents received a bonus of four pounds for
each emigrant secured by them. Captains of vessels brought
out hundreds and thousands, who had no money, and, there-
fore, consented to be sold to service in the new world. From
this service they were to redeem themselves by labor for a
stipulated period, usually from three to five years. Such
immigrants were known as "redemptioners." The furor
of immigration from Switzerland was so great that the civil
authorities in successive years issued more than a dozen
proclamations warning people of the risks they thus incurred
— but all in vain. People came in companies, or singly,
with little or no thought for the morrow. Their motives
were as various as their characters, but all expected to be
able to make themselves more comfortable than they had
been in the land of their birth. The usual route of travel
from Switzerland was down the Rhine to its mouth in the
2 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Netherlands where passage was taken for the British colo-
nies in America. Among these immigrants from one of
the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland was a man
named Jacob Romer, though the Dutch of New York (which
had been an English colony for many years) wrote the
name variously as Roemer, Romer, Romen, Rome, Roome
and Roomer! The name was (and still is) well known in
Europe.
Three-quarters of a century before, the Danish astrono-
mer, Ole Roemer, had given to the world the knowledge
of the velocity of light and the distance of the earth from
the sun. John James Roemer was the famous Professor
of botany after whom Linnaeus named the genus of beau-
tiful plants still called "Romeria." He, too, was a Ger-
man-Swiss, and was a contemporary of Jacob Roemer,
though they never met. The Italian name "Romeo," desig-
nates, primarily, a man who has seen Rome; and in the
more northern languages the name "Roemer" had the same
signification. In all the Christian ages pilgrimages to Jeru-
salem have been in vogue; but during the middle ages pil-
grimages to Rome were even more common. Skeat's Anglo
Saxon Dictionary informs us that these pilgrimages were so
popular even in England that it came to be generally be-
lieved that this was the origin of the English verb "to roam" !
In those days "Ich bin ein roemer" was almost as proud a
boast in religious and social circles as it had been in the
courts of kings when Paul made a similar boast for him-
self. For these reasons Roemer became a family name;
and the great number of these pilgrimages in those days
accounts for the prevalence of the name throughout Europe.
One of Jacob Roemer's ancestors had undoubtedly been on
pilgrimage to Rome.
Jacob Roemer's widow told Mrs. Eliza Ann See of Tarry-
town that before he became her lover he had learned the
tailor's trade, and that her parents objected to their mar-
riage because of his inferiority in wealth and position. They
THE ROMER FAMILY 3
must have forgotten their own origin, for their family name
was "Haarlager," which can hardly mean anything else than
"hairdresser." But they proved inexorable, and Jacob's
thoughts turned, not unnaturally, to the paradise in Amer-
ica whither so many of his friends had already gone. There
were several of the same name already in New York.
His sweetheart's name was "Frena," a name derived
(whether she knew it or not) from the ancient goddess who,
her ancestors believed, produced the bright flowers of Spring
and loved her husband so dearly that when separated from
him she wept continually and her tear drops, as they fell
to the earth, became flakes of gold, so that these when they
were found were known as "Freya's tears."
Frena Haarlager proved herself as the goddess of her
forefathers. She would not be separated from the man of
her choice. Together they fled from home to seek their for-
tune in the western world. By the time they reached the
coast their little store of money was exhausted ; but they
secured their passage to New York by agreeing to allow
themselves to be sold on arrival as "redemptioners." Com-
ing from so small a country, they had no conception of
the immense distances in America. Ignorant of both the
Dutch and English languages, almost before they knew it
they were sold to different masters and hurried away to
their respective destinations, neither of them knowing
whither the other had gone.
Jacob bore the name of the patriarch who, in a strange
land, had served seven years for Rachel, * * * and they
seemed to him but a few days for the love that he had for
her. * * * And Jacob Roemer bore patiently his shorter
period of service until he could again be free to seek his
Frena from whom he had been so unexpectedly separated.
He had faith in her and in the God of his fathers and, true
to his early training, when he had learned to understand
the language of the people about him, connected himself
with the Reformed Church in New York.
4 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
When his time was out he began to inquire for Frena.
His master understood that she had been sold to a man
somewhere "up the river" toward Albany and with only
this clew he began his search. He made his way up the
river as far as Philipsburgh.
In this place was living at that time a man named Hendrick
Roemer. He had been married here as early as October 15,
1743, to Marretje Gardenier, a young woman from the
manor of Mr. Van Cortlandt. After her death he had mar-
ried a German-speaking woman from Philadelphia, named
Catrina Kortseborne. His children were baptized here.
Their names were:
Deliefferins (Deliverance), baptized November 10, 1744.
Marretje, baptized April 19, 1746.
Frena, baptized August 24, 1748. (She married, May
6, 1770, Jan Hemmen).
Hendrick, baptized April 13, 1751.
Jacob, baptized April 21, 1756.
At this last baptism the witnesses were Jacob and Frena
Roemer, who were then living at Philipsburgh.
But I anticipate ! Hendrick Roemer was also a native of
Switzerland, and may have been an elder brother or other
relative of Jacob ; but on this point we have no evidence.
Whatever may have been the reason, Jacob decided to make
his home at Philipsburgh while prosecuting his search for
Frena. He took up his old trade. But he was lonely. He
missed the mountains of his native land. He climbed the
highest hill in the vicinity, known then, as now, Kykuit, the
"lookout mountain" of the region. There he secured a little
plot of ground and built himself a hut. The precise spot
was just beyond the summit, on the easterly slope, where
bubbled up the spring from which issued the rivulet that
kept green the grass on both its sides for more than a hun-
dred years later. The description given by Mrs. See en-
ables me to recognize the location without difficulty.
THE ROMER FAMILY
Jacob's piety was as steadfast as his industry and his af-
fection. He brought from New York his certificate of
church membership and was received into the communion
of the church at Philipslburgh, June 17, 1753. At that
time the post-rider between New York and Albany was
Anthony Post, the youngest son of Jan Jansen Postmael. He
was now 66 years of age; but the journey was performed
leisurely. It occupied full two weeks, the rider going up
on one side of the river and coming down on the other.
To him Jacob appealed for help, showing the seven dol-
lars which he had saved, and agreeing to give him this if
he would find Frena and bring her safe to Philipsburgh.
Antony accordingly went on his way, inquiring at every place
at which he stopped to change the mail for "one Frena," as
she had been described to him. Once and again and yet
again he went and came and brought no tidings. At last,
however, he reported that he had seen a man who thought
he recognized the description as that of a woman residing
west of the King's Road a few miles from Albany. To her
the stranger would make his report and, if she were willing,
bring her to Albany to meet Antony upon his next arrival
there. There Antony found her, and she rode behind him
on his sturdy steed the whole hundred miles and more from
Albany to Philipsburgh.
"All's well that ends well," and Jacob Roemer and Frena
Haarlager were married at Philipsburgh, August 20, 1754.
She told Mrs. See how happily they lived together, though
at first the only furniture in their little house in the woods
was a chest which contained all of their crockery and cook-
ing utensils, served as the table from which they ate their
frugal meals, and between meals also as a tailor's bench.
In those days the church at Philipsburgh had no regular
pastor. It was visited three or four times a year by minis-
ters from New York who preached the Gospel, adminis-
tered the sacraments, and examined applicants for admis-
sion to church privileges. Thus it came to pass that Frena
6 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Haarlager, wife of Jacob Roemer, was not received into the
church of Philipsburgh until nearly a year after her mar-
riage, June 18, 1755, the day after the baptism of her first
baby. The witnesses at the baptism were Hendrick Roemer
and his wife, Maretje Gardenier, of whom I have already
spoken.
Jacob and Frena had ten — and probably twelve — children.
1. The first was Hendrick, baptized June 17, 1755. He
grew up and married, February 26, 1777, Christina, daugh-
ter of Ary Van Wormer and his wife, Annatje Van Tassel,
whose ancestors had come from the island at the mouth of
the Rhine, known as "the Tessel" or "Texel."
2. The second child of Jacob and Frena Romer was
Elizabeth, baptized March 3, 1757.
3. The third was Frena, baptized September 13, 1760.
In the year 1784, she married Abraham Martelings.
4. The fourth child, Catrina, was baptized April 30, 1763.
5. The fifth was named after his father, Jacob. He was
baptized November 4, 1764. In due season he married a
woman named Annatje, and their daughter Catrina (who
was born July 8, 1791) was baptized December 4 in that
year.
6. The sixth child of Jacob and Frena was Johannes,
baptized near the end of December, 1767. In Bolton's His-
tory of Westchester County, he is called "Captain John of
Greenburgh." He married Leah, daughter of Cornelius Van
Tassel and his wife Elizabeth Storms.
7. The seventh child, Mareitje, was baptized September
2, 1769.
8. The eighth, Annatje, was baptized May 9, 1772.
9. The ninth, Sarah, was baptized November 16, 1773.
THE ROMER FAMILY 7
10. The tenth was Femmetje, born February 20, 1777,
and baptized on the 17th day of the ensuing August.
From this time until the end of the Revolutionary War,
no church records were kept. Or, if they were, they per-
ished because of the tumultuous proceedings of those days.
Bolton is therefore probably right in giving us the names
of two other children of Jacob and Frena Romer, He men-
tions :
11. Joseph.
12. James.*
The parents of this patriarchal family lived to a good
old age. Jacob was the feebler, and died first. It must
have been at least as late as 1815 when Frena, in her lonely
age, poured into the ear of her sympathizing young friend
the story of her eventful life. It was such a story of true
love as hardly could have been appreciated by her friend at
an earlier period of her life. She still appreciated it when she
told it to me half a century later ; and I am sure I should not
have heard it had I not felt similar sympathy with the
lovers whose example of affection and faithfulness I am glad
to put on record for the admiration and imitation of lovers
in succeeding generations.
Frena told Mrs. See how, one day in his old age, Jacob
said to a neighbor, in the broken English which was then
beginning to supplant the native Dutch of the region, "I
prays mine Gott I never knows a sick bett ;" and that very
evening as she drew near according to her custom to help
him to his couch, he gazed into her eyes with the old look
of love, essayed to speak, stretched out his hands to her,
and — was gone!
I believe there are gravestones still standing near the old
church to indicate the burial places of some of the children
of Jacob and Frena Romer. It would not be difficult to
8 HISTORICAL. SKETCHES
trace their descendants to the present day, and those of them
now living would doubtless be glad to cherish the memory
and imitate the virtues of such worthy ancestors. — The
Tarrytown Argus, March 9, 1907.
*Dr. Thompson has set forth the names of Jacob and Frena
Romer's children in the order of their baptism. Col. J. C. L. Ham-
ilton who has made an exhaustive study of the subject, writes that
James and Joseph were probably born between 1764 and 1767 ; there
is no record of their baptism. James was older than John. When
the captors of Andre returned to the home of Jacob Romer, John
being the youngest, was sent to fetch the pewter basin, forgotten by
the others.
CAPTAIN JACOB ROMER.
The romantic story of the love which Jacob Romer and
Frena Haarlager bore each other, and of the dangers
and trials which they underwent and endured for each
other's sake, has been well told by Reverend John B. Thomp-
son, D. D., in his sketch appearing on preceding pages, en-
titled, "The Romer Family."
In those early days, when, for the love which warmed
their hearts, Jacob and Frena forsook home and kindred,
braved the dangers of a comparatively unknown sea, and,
without purse or scrip, faced the privations and trials of
a new and untamed land, it was a common thing for per-
sons so circumstanced to consent that they be sold into
servitude by the captain of the ship which brought them
over, for a term sufficient to compensate him for the ex-
pense of the passage. Persons who had some money to pay
on account, and were sold for the balance, were called
"redemptioners," they having the right to redeem them-
selves from service at any time by paying the remainder
due for their passage ; but such as were sold for the entire
passage money were called "servants," and were compelled
to serve the entire period for which they were sold.
In the case of Jacob and Frena, she was sold for the pas-
sage expense o!f both, for a term of seven years — three
and one-half years for each — in order that he might the
better prepare for their future. One account is to the
effect that Frena had money for her passage but that she
insisted on using it for the payment of Jacob's passage, so
10 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
that he might be free to work for their mutual benefit;
but it seems incredible that labor was at that time so cheap
that it required seven years' service to pay the passage
for one — it seems more probable that her service Ifor seven
years was for the payment of the expenses of both.
They came to this country in or about the year 1747.
Frena was sold "up the river" near Albany, and Jacob busied
himself at first in New Amsterdam. That he was a man
of character and respectability is evidenced by the fact that
he united with the Dutch Church, in New Amsterdam, from
which, after he had removed to Phillips Manor, he ob-
tained a certificate and united with the Dutch Church at
Sleepy Hollow, in 1753.
There are some traditions to the effect that he enlisted
on an English man-of-war on blockade duty, off the port
of New York, and, a Spanish ship having been captured, he
was put in command of a prize crew and brought the prize
into port. In a volume entitled "Old Westchester Wills,"
there is mentioned the will of one Richard Blizzard, of
Eastchester, in Westchester County, dated December 8,
1757, wherein he bequeathed to his friend Thomas Butler
"all the prize money due to me on the Royal Hester, Snow
of War, Jacob Romer, Commander"; but whether or not
Jacob sailed the seas for a time as privateersman or other-
wise, it is certain as the seven years di Frena's service were
about expiring, he made preparations for her reception.
He bought from Colonel Adolph Phillips a small piece of
land on a high hill called "Kykuit," now known as "East
View," near Tarrytown, and erected a little house, close by
a bubbling spring of water, the situation commanding an
extensive view of the surrounding country. The land he
purchased was at the extreme easterly end of a farm occu-
pied by one Michael McKeel, who was a tenant of Colonel
Phillips. After the Revolution, when the Phillips land
was sold by the Commissioners of Forfeiture, this farm
was purchased by McKeel, but in the deed given him
CAPTAIN JACOB ROMER 11
by the Commissioners they excepted from its provisions
the parcel occupied by Captain Jacob Romer, this tract
being the only parcel of the entire manor which was so
excepted, showing that Jacob Romer's title to his little
homestead was acknowledged and respected.
Jacob, having bought his land, built his house, and joined
the church, set about finding his Frena, her seven years of
service being about ended. He applied to the old post reiter
who carried the mail between New York and Albany, to
assist him, and showed him some money with which he could
compensate him for his trouble. The old man's search
was successful, and one day Frena mounted his horse
behind him and made the journey, one hundred and fifty
miles, in this manner. The meeting of Jacob and Frena
was a joyful one, as may well be imagined. The long years
of waiting were ended. Jacob had some relatives, Hen-
drick Roemer and family, living near, and of course there
was a sincere welcome. They engaged the Minister, Rev-
erend Johannes Ritzema, and on August 20, 1754, in the
old Dutch church in Sleepy Hollow, were married. The
record states that both were born in Switzerland, and at
the time of marriage were living in Phillipsburg.
Then a fire was kindled in the little house on the hill
Kykuit, and a new home was organized. Very humble it
was, but it sheltered loving hearts, and reverent souls. In
Eden the Lord said to Adam that he should eat bread in
the sweat of his face, all the days of his life. And this
is what Jacob and Frena did, as the result of honest toil.
On Ararat, Noah was told to multiply and replenish the
earth. Jacob and Frena followed this injunction, and sent
out from their hill-side home five stalwart sons and seven
womanly daughters. The sons were named Hendrick, Jacob,
James, Joseph and John; the daughters Elizabeth, Frena,
Catrina, Marietje, Annateje, Sarah and Fremmetje. Ten of
these — all but James and Joseph — according to the record,
were baptized in the old church at Sleepy Hollow. Frena
12 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
united with this church on June 18, 1755, — the day after
the baptism of Hendrick, her first baby.
The sons of this couple all shouldered muskets for home
and country in the Revolutionary War. The daughters
married and helped organize other homes, and gave other
sons for the taming of the wilderness and the upbuilding
of the State.
The little house on the hillside continued to be the home
of Jacob and Frena until long after the Revolution. It was
situated about 600 feet south of the highway, leading from
Tarrytown to White Plains, sometimes called the "Refugee's
Path," with which it was connected by a private lane.
Located in the very heart of the neutral ground, it un-
doubtedly owed its security in those troublous days to its
isolation. It was to this house that James Romer led the
little band of militiamen before day-break, on the memor-
able 23rd of September, 1780, who, before the noon hour
of that day, captured Major John Andre. It was here
that Frena, mother Of James, prepared and served break-
fast for the party and put up a lunch in the old pewter
basin for their mid-day meal, and it was to this house that
the captors returned, bringing their prisoner with them, and
had dinner. Frena, missing her pewter basin, which had
been overlooked and forgotten in the excitement of the
capture, sent her youngest son, John, to fetch it, which he
did, and John's grandson, Colonel John C. L. Hamilton, of
Elmsford, now (1916) has it.
Dinner being prepared, Mrs. Romer asked Andre to
partake, but he declined. Noticing his superior apparel
and demeanor, she apologized for the plain repast, but Andre
said : "Madam, it is all very good, but indeed I cannot eat."
After their meal, the captors, seven in number, together
with their prisoner and accompanied by John Romer, brother
of James, proceeded to the American Headquarters and
there delivered the British Major to Colonel Jameson, in
command of the post.
ROM
lL, [ V
IN WE^flRf QF
CAPTAIN JACOB ROMER
km FfcttiAll/UllUAGEflkiS mre
WHO EMGRWEB FROM SMT2ERLARD IK ["747*
I3Y THE RE* JOKAKHES RlYHEKA.
AuaosT 8Q,i?S4.
i-rena Died Jam. Ek (819, Aged 34 Years
1YUE GA.PTORSOF MaUUR fcKDftE BREMSftSTEB AT THEIR HOME
THE MORKIKC OFTKE GAPTUUE,TKEl&SllN JAWES ROMER.
BEIK.U SHE! OF THE PARTY* AFTER THE GAPTURE.TKE
1 EKTlREEARTYRETURKEQTDTKERQMERHDWEFDRCllNREfl. I
j Erecteii by John, luckwqod Rower, and Jqkk CL.Kamilvgn
I TWOOFTKElRGREATCrfiAKtICmLDREK.mREKEWW.OFAFORrtEK.SrD«E
SLEEPY HOLLOW CHURCHYARD
CAPTAIN JACOB ROMER 13
After the war, John Romer married Leah, the daughter
of Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel. John and Cornelius
joined hands in 1793, built the well-known stone and frame
house on the Sawmill River Road, on the site of the former
home of Lieutenant Van Tassel, burned by the British and
Tories in 1777. Upon the completion of this new home,
Captain Jacob Romer and his wife Frena, in their old age,
left their home on Kykuit, and went into the valley of
the Sawmill River, then as now a valley of peace and com-
fort, and made their home with their son John for the
remainder of their days. In 1806, Jacob conveyed to John
his homestead on Kykuit by deed, appearing at the end of
this sketch. The old house remained in its original location
until the construction of the New York and Putnam Rail-
road, when it was removed into an adjoining field, and a
few years later, was accidentally destroyed by fire.
The land originally purchased by Jacob Romer from
Colonel Phillips is now owned by Mr. Jdhn D. Rockefeller.
Jacob Romer died February 14, 1807, aged ninety-
three years ; Frena died January 2, 1819, aged ninety-
four years. They are both buried in the church-
yard surrounding the old Dutch church at Sleepy
Hollow, in which church they exchanged their mar-
riage vows and where they brought their children for
baptism. Very humble people were they — children of pri-
vation and toil, living in troublesome times, yet possessing
qualities which would enrich any of earth's nobility. They
were true to their love ; they married for better or worse,
and did not forget their marriage vows ; they walked up-
rightly in the paths of their life ; they fought a good fight ;
they finished their course ; they kept the faith.
The stone erected over their graves a century ago has
crumbled, but two of their descendants have erected another
of enduring granite to mark the resting place of these com-
mon people who played well their part.
14 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
JACOB ROMER TO JOHN ROMER
DEED.
THIS INDENTURE, Made this Fifth day of November, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six, Between
Jacob Roomer, of the Town of Greenburgh, in the County of West-
chester and State of New York, of the first part, and John Romer,
of the same place, of the second part, WITNESSETH, That the
said Jacob Roomer for and in consideration of the Natural Love
and affection which he the said Jacob Roomer hath and beareth unto
the said John Roomer, and also for the better support and liveli-
hood of him the said John Roomer, hath Given and Granted, Alien-
ed, enfeoffed and confirmed, and by these presents doth give, grant,
alien, enfeoff and confirm unto the said John Roomer, his heirs
and assigns, All that certain tract piece or parcel of land and
premises now or late in the possession and occupation of the said
Jacob Romer, situate, lying and being in the said Town of Green-
burgh, and computed to be about Four Acres, be the same more
or less, as the same was heretofore possessed by the said Jacob
Roomer; TOGETHER with all and singular the Heriditaments and
appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining to
the said tract, piece or parcel of Land hereby Granted or meant or
intended to be unto the said John Roomer as aforesaid, and every
part and parcel thereof or which hath been heretofore held and oc-
cupied or enjoyed or accepted, reputed, taken or known as a part
or parcel thereof, or in any manner belonging to the same. And
all the estate, right, title, interest, property, claim and demand What-
soever of him the said Jacob Roomer, of, in or to the same lot,
tract, piece or parcel of land and premises, and of in and to every
part and parcel thereof, with their and every of their appurtenances.
To Have and To Hold the said tract, piece or parcel of land
and all and singular other the premises hereby granted and confirmed
or mentioned or intended so to be with all and singular the appur-
tenances unto the same belonging or in any wise appertaining unto
the said John Roomer, his heirs and assigns, to the only proper use,
benefit and behoof of him the said John Roomer, his heirs and
assigns forever.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The said Jacob Roomer hath here-
unto set his hand and affixed his seal the day and year first above
written.
His
JACOB X ROMER.
Mark
The Words "Natural Love" in the third line written on an era-
sure before the execution hereof.
Sealed and Delivered in Presence of
Solomon Brewer
Thomas Boyce, Junior
Abraham Acker
Henry Hammond
CAPTAIN JACOB ROMER 15
Westchester County, SS.
Be it remembered that on the third day of April in the year One
thousand eight hundred and seven, before me, Caleb Tompkins, one
of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in and for said County,
personally appeared Henry Hammond, to me known to be the same
person described as one of the subscribing witnesses to the within
conveyance, who being duly sworn deposeth and said that he saw
Jacob Romer, to him known to be the same person described in and
Who executed the said deed, execute the same for the use and pur-
poses therein mentioned, and that this deponent together with Sol-
omon Brewer, Thomas Boyce, Junior, and Abraham Acker sub-
scribed the same as witnesses. I having inspected the said convey-
ance and finding no material erasures or interlineations thereon,
excepting such as are noted, do allow the same to be recorded.
CALEB TOMPKINS.
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER.
John Romer, the fifth son of Captain Jacob R'omer and
Frena Haarlager, his wife, was born in the home of his
parents on the "Lookout Mountain," known as Kykuit, over-
looking the Sawmill River Valley, the location being now
known as East View, near Tarrytown, on the tenth day of
November, 1764, and was baptized in December, 1767, in
the old Dutch church in Sleepy Hollow.
The family of Captain Jacob Romer consisted of himself,
wife, five sons and seven daughters. The sons were named
Hendrick, Jacob, James, Joseph and John, all of whom were
enrolled as members of Colonial regiments serving in the
cause of American liberty in the Revolutionary War. John
Romer, the subject of this sketch, being less than twelve
years of age on the breaking out of the war, was later en-
rolled as a private in Captain Van Benshoten's Company of
the Second Regiment of Dutchess County Militia. The
daughters of Jacob and Frena were: Elizabeth, baptized
March 3, 1757; Frena, baptized September 13, 1760 (she
married Abraham Martelings in 1784) ; Catrina, baptized
April 30, 1763; Mareitje, baptized September 2, 1769;
Annatje, baptized May 9, 1772 ; Sarah, baptized November
16, 1773; Femmetje, born February 20, 1777; baptized
August 17, 1777.
The home of this patriarchal and patriotic family was
located in the very heart of what was known as the "Neutral
Ground," a territory lying north of the lines of the British
army, whose headquarters were in New York City, and
16
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 17
south of the lines of the Continental army, which occupied
the territory north of the Croton River. The inhabitants
of this section were divided in their political sentiments, —
some, called Tories, holding allegiance to the British Crown ;
and others, imbued with the spirit of independence, espous-
ing the cause of the Colonies, were designated by the Tories
as rebels. Because of their position outside the lines of
both armies, the inhabitants of this locality were deprived of
the protection which the occupancy of the territory by either
army would have afforded, and so they were subjected to ill
usage by the irresponsible followers of both camps, by the
Tory partisans particularly, and at times by direct command
erf British officers. The well-stocked farms of the thrifty
dwellers in the Sawmill River Valley afforded, while any-
thing remained, a rich foraging ground for the British forces
quartered in New York, and their Tory sympathizers in
the neighborhood were not slow in organizing bands of
marauders to plunder the farms, dwellings, barns and hen
roosts of their "Rebel" neighbors, finding for the loot so
obtained a ready market within the British lines. This sort
of brigandage soon reduced the people of the Valley to
necessitous circumstances. In order to recoup their losses,
some of the more lawless of the inhabitants formed them-
selves into bands, called "Skinners," to prey upon their
neighbors of Tory proclivities, but both sets of brigands soon
lost sight of the political affiliations of the people, and seek-
ing only their personal benefit, did not stop to inquire
whether a sleek ox, or a fat hog, belonged either to a Rebel
or a Tory — a toothsome sparerib or a juicy steak or roast
and a lusty appetite for either obscured every other con-
sideration and was to them a sufficient justification for
ruthless robbery. It is no wonder that the dwellers on this
Neutral Ground established lookout stations whence an
alarm was sounded whenever a party of horse or foot was
observed approaching, on hearing which the cattle were
driven into the woods for concealment, household valuables
18 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
secreted, families retired to places of hiding, and an occa-
sional musket ball was sent through the breast of a cowboy
by some incensed farmer from his place of ambush. The
region was also the scene of frequent sanguinary encounters
between the enrolled troops of the contending armies. Bol-
ton, in his History of Westchester County, recounts some of
these. The story of one of them, being an encounter in the
Sawmill River Valley between a troop of American cav-
alry commanded by Captain Hopkins and a British force
under Colonel Emerick, was related to him by John Romer,
the subject of this sketch, who was an eyewitness of and
probably a participant in the engagement.
Irving, in his Life of Washington, relates the story of the
attack made by the British and Hessians on American troops,
posted at Young's House, near White Plains, on February
2, 1780, which is here reproduced:
"Another noted maraud during Knyohausen's military sway
was in the lower part of Westchester County, in a hilly region
lying between the British and American lines, which had been the
scene of part of the past year's campaign. Being often foraged,
its inhabitants had become belligerent in their habits, and quick
to retaliate on all marauders.
"In this region, about twenty miles from the British outposts,
and not far from White Plains, the Americans had established a
post of three hundred men at a stone building commonly known
as Young's House, from the name of its owner. It commanded a
road which passed from north to south down along the narrow
but fertile valley of the Sawmill River, now known by its original
Indian name of the Neperan. On this road the garrison of
Young's House kept a vigilant eye, to intercept the convoys of
cattle and orovision which had been collected or plundered by the
enemy, and which passed down this valley toward New York.
This post had long been an annoyance to the enemy, but its dis-
tance from the British lines had hitherto saved it from attack.
The country was now covered with snow ; troops could be rapidly
transported on sleighs ; and it was determined that Young's
House should be surprised and this rebel nest broken up.
"On the evening of the second of February, 1780. an expedition
set out for the purpose from King's Bridge, led by Lieutenant-
Colonel Norton, and consisting of four flank companies of
guards, two companies of Hessians, and a party of Yagers, all
in sleighs; besides a body of Yager cavalry, and a number of
mounted Westchester refugees, with two three-pounders.
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 19
"The snow, being newly fallen, was deep ; the sleighs broke
their way through it with difficulty. The troops at length aban-
doned them and pushed forward on foot. The cannon were left
behind for the same reason. It was a weary tramp ; the snow
in many places was more than two feet deep and they had to take
by-ways and cross-roads to avoid the American patrols.
"The sun rose while they were yet seven miles from Young's
House. To surprise the post was out of the question ; still they
kept on. Before they could reach the house the country had
taken the alarm, and the Westchester yeomanry had armed
themselves, and were hastening to aid the garrison.
"The British light infantry and grenadiers invested the man-
sion ; the cavalry posted themselves on a neighboring eminence,
to prevent retreat or reinforcement, and the house was assailed.
It made a brave resistance, and was aided by some of the yeo-
manry stationed in an adjacent orchard. The garrison, however,
was overpowered ; numbers were killed, and ninety taken prison-
ers. The house was sacked and set in flames ; and thus, having
broken up this stronghold of the country, the party hastened to
effect a safe return to the lines with their prisoners, some of
whom were so badly wounded that they had to be left at differ-
ent farm-houses on the road. The detachment reached King's
Bridge by nine o'clock the same evening, and boasted that, in this
surprise, they had sustained no other losses than two killed and
twenty-three wounded.
"Of the prisoners many were doubtless farmers and farmers'
sons, who had turned out in defense of their homes, and were
now to be transferred to the horrors of the jail and sugar-house
in New York. We give this affair as a specimen of the petite
guerre carried on in the southern part of Westchester County;
the NEUTRAL GROUND, as it was called, but subjected, from
its vicinity to the city, to be foraged by the royal forces and
plundered and insulted by refugees and Tories. No part of the
Union was more harried and trampled down by friend and foe,
during the Revolution, than this debatable region and the Jer-
seys."
Nearly the entire male patriotic population of this district
able to do military duty were enrolled in the militia regi-
ments of the country, men of the first regiment being sta-
tioned at various posts in the county for the protection of
the residents and for patrol duty in advance of the American
lines. This regiment was not constantly in the field, but
was ordered out from time to time as the exigencies of
the service demanded. In December, 1776, a detachment
from this regiment was stationed at the houses of Lieu-
tenant Cornelius Van Tassel and Committeeman Peter Van
Tassel, on the Sawmill River Road, and another at the
20 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
house of Joseph Young. Subsequently Captain Sybert
Acker's company of about sixty men was stationed at
the Van Tassel houses. The men so enrolled, when not
actually needed for camp or active field service, were al-
lowed to return temporarily to their homes to plant and
cultivate their farms and otherwise provide for their fam-
ilies. Their terms of enlistment were usually for short
periods; their pay was uncertain, and when made was in
paper currency of little value. Money was so scarce that the
Colony of New York at one time offered ten bushels of
wheat as pay for three months' service of enlisted men, and
for a longer period one and one-half bushels per month, and
directed the county officials of Westchester County to levy
a tax upon certain townships of the county where the civil
law could be enforced, to wit, the towns of Poundridge,
Salem, North Castle, Bedford and Manor of Cortland, re-
quiring them to furnish an aggregate of one hundred and
twenty-five pairs of good woolen stockings and one hundred
and four pairs of strong leather shoes for use of the army,
the Colony at large being required to furnish a total of two
thousand pairs of shoes, and twenty-four hundred pairs of
stockings.
In addition to general privations, the frequent outrages
and robberies perpetrated by Tories, Refugees, Hessians,
Yagers, British and Skinners had so aroused and enraged
the sturdy farmers of the neighborhood that small independ-
ent parties were frequently organized for temporary service
in intercepting and dispersing marauding bands setting forth
on these nefarious excursions, or who might be returning
with their loot to the British lines, and if in the course of
their encounters some of the cattle thieves were killed there
was no mourning on the part of the Westchester yeomen.
In 1780, the Legislature of New York, in order to prevent
the British obtaining supplies of horses and cattle from the
upper part of the counties of Westchester, Dutchess and
Orange, passed an Act requiring Governor Clinton to es-
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 21
tablish by proclamation a line through those counties south
of which no cattle or horses should be driven except for the
use of the American army, under penalty of forfeiture and
sale, the proceeds thereof to be divided between the State
and' the parties making the capture. This line was estab-
lished at Pines Bridge, over the Croton River. The troops
at Lieutenant Joseph Young's house, on the lower cross-
road leading from Tarrytown to White Plains, were re-
moved to Pines Bridge, and five companies of the South
Battalion of Westchester County Militia returned to their
homes in the immediate neighborhood.
In the latter part of September, 1780, a little company of
seven young men, named John Paulding, David Williams,
Isaac See, James Romer, John Yerks, Isaac Van Wart and
Abraham Williams, all members of the local militia, learn-
ing of the terms of the Governor's proclamation, arranged
to*do a little scout duty for the general good on their own
account. They were then in the neighborhood of North
Salem. On the twenty-second of September, having ob-
tained permission to take their muskets with them, they took
up their march toward Tarrytown ; that night they spent in
the barn of John Anderson, sleeping on the hay ; the next
morning they were astir before daybreak, and James Romer
piloted them over Buttermilk Hill to the house of his father,
Captain Jacob Romer, on Kykuit. Here they had a sub-
stantial breakfast, and Mrs. Romer (Frena) prepared a
lunch for them, packing the same in a large pewter basin
and a basket for convenience of carriage. Thus provided,
and carrying their muskets, the little party proceeded to the
road crossing the country to White Plains (commonly called
the Refugees' Path) and along that road towards the Bed-
ford Road (stopping at Archer Read's for a pack of cards),
until they reached an elevation known as David's Hill. From
here an extensive view of the Hudson, the old manor house
and church, as well as the intersection of the roads leading to
Bedford, Sleepy Hollow, and White Plains Road, as also
22
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
MAP OF LOCALITY OF ANDRES CAPTURE
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 23
the main Albany Post Road leading toward New York, could
be had, and here James Romer, Isaac See, John Yerks and
Abraham Williams were stationed to watch and guard this
road, while John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart and David Wil-
liams proceeded across the fields to the "lower" road, known
as the Old Post Road, leading more directly to New York,
and only a few hundred yards distant in the valley below.
Here, at a point where the road was narrow because of a
large tulip (whitewood) tree, standing in the center of it,
the three halted and stationed themselves, being about six
hundred feet southerly from David's Hill, where the four
were stationed. This tulip tree was a noted landmark, the
trunk being twenty-four feet in circumference and one hun-
dred and eleven feet high, and its branches spreading out to
a diameter of one hundred and six feet. In the shade of this
tree, Major Andre, the British spy, was arrested. The sus-
picions of the three Americans being aroused, Andre was
taken into an adjoining field, beside a little brook, then
known as Clark's Kill, afterwards called Andre's Brook,
where, screened by the bushes, he was searched and the in-
criminating papers found in his stockings. The three cap-
tors, with their prisoner, then joined the other members of
the party on the hill, and, refusing all of Andre's offers of
money for his release, they concluded to take him to the
American headquarters. Leaving their post on the hill, they
proceeded once more to the house of Jacob Romer, on Ky-
kuit, where they stopped for their dinner. In the excitement
of the capture and in their eagerness to avoid the highway,
the three men on the lower road, who had carried the lunch,
forgot all about it, and left lunch and basin under the tulip
tree. Pewter basins were pewter basins in those days, and
when Mrs. Jacob Romer observed its absence, learning
where it had been left, her youngest son, John Romer, then
sixteen years of age, was sent for it, and brought it back to
his home. He retained it until near the close of his life, when
he gave it to his grandson, John C. L. Hamilton, who at
24 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
this date (1916) still has it. When the noon repast was
ready, Mrs. Romer urged Andre to partake, but he de-
clined. Noticing his superior dress and demeanor, she
thought he did not care for the plain food provided for the
meal, and made apologies for it, when Andre interrupted,
saying, "Madam, it is all very good, but indeed I cannot
eat."
Finishing their meal, the seven captors, together with
John Romer, set out for Colonel Jameson's headquarters,
at a place called Mile Square, and there delivered their
prisoner, who claimed at first to be John Anderson, but who
later admitted his identity and acknowledged he was Major
Andre, Adjutant-General of the British Army.
The old Albany Post Road was laid out by commis-
sioners appointed for the purpose in September, 1723. The
old road was changed about 1800 by an Act of the Legis-
lature to its present location, and called Highland Turnpike.
The right of way of the old road being found necessary for
the construction of the Croton Aqueduct, it was officially
closed by legislative enactment about the year 1838.
In the early summer of 1781, General Washington and the
Count de Rochambeau having held a conference in respect
to the campaign by the combined armies, the French marched
from Connecticut and joined the American forces in the
neighborhood of Dobbs Ferry, in Westchester County,
having in view an attack upon the northern part of New
York City. Washington, in pursuance of this plan, marched
from Peekskill on the second of July, 1781, leaving his
tents standing, making a direct halt at Croton Bridge, about
nine miles from Peekskill, another at the Sleepy Hollow
Church at Tarrytown, where he halted until dusk — ("I
made a halt at the church by Tarrytown till dusk" — Wash-
ington's Diary, July 2, 1781), and completed the rest of
his march in the night to Valentine's Hill, four miles above
King's Bridge, where he arrived about sunrise; but it was
found that a British regiment was encamped on the north
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 25
end of New York Island, and a ship of war anchored in
the river, so the surprisal of the British forts was out of
the question. Being disappointed in his object, Washington
did not care to fatigue his troops any more, but suffered
them to remain on their arms, and spent a good part of the
day reconnoitering the enemy's works. The next day he
marched to Dobbs Ferry, where he was joined by the Count
de Rochambeau on the sixth of July. The two armies now
encamped ; the American in two lines, resting on the Hudson
at Dobbs Ferry, where it was covered by batteries, and ex-
tending eastward toward the Neperan, or Sawmill River;
the French in a single line on the hills farther east, reaching
to the Bronx River. The beautiful valley of the Neperan
intervened between the encampments. It was a lovely coun-
try for a summer encampment — breezy hills commanding
wide prospects, pleasant valleys watered by bright pastoral
streams, the Bronx, Spraine and the Neperan, and abound-
ing with never-failing springs. The French encampment
made a gallant display along the Greenburg hills, giving
much of cheer and encouragement to the American troops
and to the long-suffering inhabitants of the region. The
presence of the two armies gave the latter a sense of se-
curity they had not known since the breaking out of the war
five years before, and inspired them with a hope that their
tribulations were nearing an end. The commanders of the
two armies occupied farmhouses in the neighborhood for
their headquarters, Washington being lodged in the house
of Lieutenant Joseph Appleby, and Rochambeau in the
house of the widow of Gilbert Bates, which is still (1916)
in existence. During the three or four weeks the two armies
were so encamped the intercourse between the officers and
men of the separate camps was very cordial, and occasion-
ally, on festive occasions, long tables were spread in the
adjacent barns which were converted into banqueting halls.
The young French officers gained the good graces of the
country belles, though little acquainted with their language.
26 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Their encampment was particularly gay, and it was the
boast of an old lady of the neighborhood many years after
the war, that she had danced at headquarters when a girl
with the celebrated Marshal Berthier, at that time one of the
aides of the Count de Rochambeau.
During this period of encampment, Washington formed
the plan of marching to Virginia with something more than
two thousand of the American army and a part of the
French force, in an attempt to capture Lord Cornwallis and
his forces at Yorktown. Perfect secrecy was maintained
as to this change of plan. Preparations were still carried
on as if for an attack upon New York. An extensive en-
campment was marked out in the Jerseys and ovens erected
there, and also in the southern part of Westchester County,
and fuel provided for the baking of bread, as if a part of
the besieging force were to be stationed there.
Several years afterwards Washington in a letter to Noah
Webster writes :
"That much trouble was taken and finesse used to misguide and
bewilder Sir Henry Clinton in regard to the real object by fictitious
communications, as well as by making deceptive provision of ovens,
forage and boats in his neighborhood is certain. Nor were less
pains taken to deceive our own army, for I had always conceived,
where the imposition does not completely take place at home, it
would never sufficiently succeed abroad."
The youth and young manhood of John Romer were lived
in stirring times. Scarcely a day passed during the period
covered by the Revolutionary War but witnessed a tragedy
of guerilla warfare in the region surrounding his home. His
neighbors were despoiled of their property; some were
killed; some were taken prisoners; the burning homes of
others illumined the darkness of night. It is probable that
only its isolated position on Kykuit saved his father's home
from destruction, for the fact that it had sent forth five
sturdy sons as members of the Colonial army would scarcely
appeal to the Tories or British as a reason why it should be
spared. Down in the valley of the Sawmill River, the
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roads afforded easier travel, and were more frequently used.
The Van Tassel homes were situated here, on level ground,
as were those of many of their neighbors, and the henroosts
and pigpens of the valley farmers offered superior induce-
ments to the Cowboy-Skinner fraternity than did those upon
the rocky heights, which were more difficult of access and
less safe of approach. On one occasion a marauding Hes-
sian, hiding behind a large boulder, on the jarm of Lieu-
tenant Van Tassel, was shot and killed, and his body buried
under an apple tree standing near ; and later still, in a sharp
skirmish near the Van Tassel home, five more Hessians
were killed and their bodies likewise buried under the same
tree Captain John Romer told the tale to his grandson
John C L. Hamilton, and pointed out to him the place of
burial The younger man, to test the accuracy of the story,
dug down and found the bones of the soldiers just where
his grandsire had located them. He took some of them as
souvenirs, and having been invited to prepare and read a
paper on "The Allied Armies in Westchester County be-
fore the New York Historical Society, did so, and on that
occasion exhibited these Hessian bones as vouchers attesting
the accuracy of his paper, and likewise the generosity of
Westchester County in offering hospitable graves to its
invaders.
Shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War, John
Romer married Leah Van Tassel, only daughter of Lieu-
tenant Cornelius Van Tassel and Elizabeth Storms, his wife
and then he and Lieutenant Van Tassel, in 1793, erected
upon the site of Lieutenant Van Tassel's former residence,
that was burned by the British in 1777, the noted stone and
frame dwelling, still standing, that was designated and used
for more than fifty years as the Town House, and place for
holding all the elections and public meetings of the Town
of Greenburg. The annual muster of the militia for a large
portion of the county was held here ; also the meetings of
Solomon's Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, which was
28 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
organized after the Revolution, at Mount Pleasant. John
Romer was made a member of this lodge in 1800, after
which it was moved to White Plains, and from there to the
Van Tassel-Romer house in Greenburg. It was here, in
1805, that Honorable Daniel D. Tompkins, who became
Governor of the State and afterward Vice-President of the
United States, was first admitted a member of the Masonic
fraternity.
On the sixth day of April, 1799, John Romer was com-
missioned First Lieutenant in the Company of Light In-
fantry, Westchester County Militia, commanded by Captain
Isaac Van Wart, one of Andre's captors. Captain Van
Wart resigned March 8, 1803, and Lieutenant Romer was
promoted to the captaincy of the company, which was as-
signed to the southern command, including New York and
Long Island. During Governor Tompkins's administration,
Captain Romer took an active part in organizing the various
companies and battalions of militia to complete the several
quotas of troops called for by Acts of Congress, and was one
of the first to engage in repairing Fort Washington, on the
upper end of Manhattan Island. He resigned his captain's
commission June 11, 1811, having spent upwards of twenty
years, all told, in the military service of his country.
Captain Romer participated actively in all public matters
and was one of the twenty-four prominent citizens of West-
chester County who signed the celebrated certificate given
to Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of Major Andre,
whose character had been fiercely assailed in the debate in
Congress upon the bill to increase the pension of John
Paulding, one of his associates in that memorable event.
At the dedication of the monument at Tarrytown in 1853,
intended to mark the place of capture of the British major,
Captain Romer, Honorable Henry J. Raymond and Wash-
ington Irving were the guests of honor, Captain Romer be-
ing the last Westchester County survivor of the Revolution
and the only one then living who had seen Major Andre in
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 29
person. He had with him the pewter basin already men-
tioned. He designated for the committee the exact place
of capture, where the great tulip tree formerly stood, and
also pointed out the place of search on the east side of the
present Broadway, and west of the little brook. The owner
of the property objecting to locating the monument upon
the spot designated, the committee in charge accepted the
offer of a piece of land on the west side of the highway,
some distance south of the actual place of capture, which
was generously deeded to them by Mr. Taylor, formerly a
slave, who had purchased his freedom from bondage. Alex-
ander Romer, son of Captain Romer, and also John L.
Romer and John C. L. Hamilton, two of Captain Romer's
grandsons, were present on the occasion of the dedication
of the monument.
Captain Romer and his wife Leah had a family of thir-
teen children born to them, viz : Elizabeth, Catherine, Chris-
tena, Nancy, Phoebe, Angeline, Cornelius, Ardenas, Hiram ;
Alexander, John, Edward and Isaac.
When Lieutenant Van Tassel and Captain John Romer
built the stone and frame house in 1793, on the site of the
house burned by the British, it became the home of Lieu-
tenant Van Tassel and Elizabeth Storms, his wife, parents
of Leah, and also of Captain Jacob Romer and Frena, his
wife, parents of Captain John, and also of Captain John and
his wife Leah, and here the family thus constituted lived and
died.
A most interesting home this must have been for the
grandparents and parents and for the grandchildren — thir-
teen of them — who came to bless and brighten this old-time
family circle. What intensely interesting stories of war, of
privation, of midnight alarms, of strategy, of achievement,
of victory, of the joy of peace, of restored prosperity, must
have been told in twilight hours when old and young were
gathered about the huge fire-place, with its blazing logs ! and
it is more than probable a few stories of Indians, witches
30 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
and ghosts were thrown in from time to time by way of
embellishment.
Captain John Romer died in his old homestead on May
27, 1855, and was buried by Solomon's Lodge in the church-
yard of the Presbyterian church at Greenburg, beside Leah,
his wife, near the last restingplace of his lifelong friend,
Isaac Van Wart The funeral services were conducted by
Reverend Victor M. Hurlburt, of the First Reformed
Church of Yonkers. After a brief service at the house, the
cortege, more than a mile in length, proceeded to the old
church at Elmsford, the members of Solomon's Lodge
marching upon either side of the hearse. Reverend Mr.
Hurlburt, after reading selections from the Scriptures,
chose a part of the 31st verse of chapter 49 of Genesis,
"There I buried Leah," as a basis for an eloquent address,
which was followed by the Masonic burial rites about the
open grave in the adjoining churchyard.
I
There's naught hut what's pood to he under-
stood hy afne and accepted Mason.
Capt. JOHN HOMER,
BORJV
NOV. lO, 01764:,
DIED '
3VIAY 27, X855
■■
<«
'**
■■■I
of
Jolaxi Home
■ I
I
HE AIDED ANDRE'S CAPTORS.
Captain John Romer, who died in 1855, Westchester's
Last Revolutionary Soldier.
Joined the Continental Army when only a boy — later, in the
War of 1812, he once wore served his Country.
The last surviving soldier of the Revolution living in
Westchester County died in 1855. He was John Romer, a
son of Jacob Romer, and was born on November 10, 1764,
in the place now called East View, in the town of Green-
burg, three miles east of Tarrytown. John Romer and his
four elder brothers were private soldiers in the Revolu-
tionary War. The captors of Major Andre — Williams,
Paulding and Van Wart— together with James Romer, one
of the five brothers, Yerkes, Dean and See, obtained their
breakfast at the house of Jacob Romer on the morning
of the capture, and there they had a luncheon prepared,
which they carried away in a pewter basin. On their way
to the Tarrytown Post Roads they stopped at the house
of Archer Read and obtained a pack of cards, after which
they proceeded to the places of their concealment— three
taking places near the famous tulip tree, upon the new
Post Road, and the other four remaining to guard the
31
32 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
old Post Road, about six hundred feet distant. After the
capture the three led Andre up to where the others were
stationed, and then the whole party proceeded directly
to the house of Jacob Romer, where they remained and
had their dinner. In their hurry to get Andre away from
the public highway, the captors forgot the basin above
mentioned containing their lunch, and while dinner was
being prepared, John Romer, then a lad sixteen years old,
was sent after it. Upon his return he accompanied the
party to Colonel Sheldon's headquarters in North Castle,
their route lying across lots and through the woods, in
order to avoid the highways as much as possible. This is
briefly the story of the capture of Andre as told by John
Romer many years afterwards. He was selected in 1853
by the Monument Association to identify the exact spot
where the capture took place, and selected a spot east of
the present Post Road at Tarrytown. The monument
was erected on the west side, because the property where
the capture really took place could not be obtained for the
purpose.
After the Revolution, John Romer married Leah, daugh-
ter of Cornelius Van Tassel, a lieutenant in the war in
Colonel Drake's Regiment of Militia, organized October
23, 1775. Through his wife, John Romer became possessed
of the Van Tassel farm, at Elmsford, upon which he built
the house long afterwards used as the Greenburg Town
House. This house was erected upon the site of the Van
Tassel house, burned by the British in 1777, Leah, then
an infant, and her mother being turned out into the cold
of a November night that the structure might be destroyed.
Captain Romer was one of the prominent Free Masons of
the county in his day, having been admitted to Solomon's
Lodge, of Mount Pleasant, in 1800. Solomon's Lodge, at
that time, was in the settlement called Sparta, now a suburb
of Sing Sing. Afterwards the Lodge was moved to White
Plains ; then it was moved to Elmsford, and then under a
HE AIDED ANDREWS CAPTORS 83
reorganized charter it was placed in Tarrytown, where it
has remained and flourished for many years.
In 1853, at the dedication of the monument to the captors
of Major Andre, at Tarrytown, John Romer was a guest
of honor as one of the few survivors of the Revolutionary
soldiers. He died at Elmsford on May 27, 1855, ninety
years and six months old, and was buried in the churchyard
of the Reformed Church in that place, not far from the
grave of Isaac Van Wart.
John Romer seems to have been particularly happy in
having possessed during his life the respect and esteem of
all those who knew him. All the local traditions and reports
concerning him indicate that he was kind, honest and up-
right, a good citizen and a pleasant neighbor. The fact
that he was a soldier at sixteen and again at the age of forty-
eight, serving his country at the two extremes of life, as
it were, is sufficient indication that in patriotism he was
a worthy representative of the Westchester county yeoman,
whose fidelity, perseverance and endurance did so much
for the cause of American liberty in "the days that tried
men's souls." —New York Tribune, July 6, 1896 .
ABRAHAM MARTLING.
Abraham Martling lived on Beaver Hill, overlooking the
Sawmill River Valley. He was born about the year 1763,
and in 1784 was married to Frena Romer, daughter of Jacob
and Frena Romer.
Previous to their marriage he was for a time a member of
one of the militia regiments, and later, served in the Con-
tinental Line. In November, 1777, he, with several other
men of the Sawmill River neighborhood, desiring to avenge
the destruction of the Van Tassel homes, burned by the
British a few nights previously, went to the cove at Wolf-
ert's Roost, where the Water Guard kept their boats, where
others joined them, manned one or more of the boats
and proceeded swiftly and silently down the Hudson to
Spuyten Duyvil Creek, where they succeeded in passing the
British Guard boats without being observed, and then went
to the landing place near the foot of the present 92nd Street,
in New York City. Here they landed and climbed the
cliffs, and went on to the residence of General Oliver
Delancey, on the old Bloomingdale Road. The home was
feebly defended, and the party obtained possession without
trouble. Taking such articles as they could readily carry,
they set the house on fire, and hurried back to their boats.
Keeping within the shadow of the hills, they rowed swiftly
back to the Hudson and across it to the dark shadows of
the Palisades. Here they abandoned their boats and made
their way along the shore to a point nearly opposite Wolf-
ert's Roost — their starting place. On the return trip Abra-
34
ABRAHAM MARTLING 35
ham Martling carried on his back a massive pair of brass
andirons, as a souvenir of the night's events.
In 1779, Martling enlisted in Captain Schaffer's company
■of Colonel Armand's regiment of the New York Line, and
served throughout the war, being at the battle of York-
town when Lord Cornwallis surrendered.
Upon his marriage with Fanny Romer in 1784, he ob-
tained a few acres of ground upon the extreme westerly
end of the farm of Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel and
John Romer, his brother-in-law. Here he erected a small
dwelling up against the rocks, set out some fruit trees, and
cultivated what little of the soil was available. Late in
life he applied to the Government for a pension. In his
petition, after setting forth his military services, he stated
that he was extremely poor ; that his debts amounted to five
pounds; his cash in hand was fifty cents; that his real
estate consisted of a few acres of mossy rock; that his
dwelling was a hole in the ground with a roof over it, etc.
He got his pension. He died in that humble abode at
12 :15 o'clock, A. M., January 1, 1841, 92 years of age, as
stated by his nearest neighbor, Isaac Conkling, who was
with him in his last moments. He was buried near the
grave of Captain John Romer, in Elmsford Cemetery.
His widow, Fanny Romer Martling, applied for a pen-
sion in December, 1846. She died in 1850, and was buried
in Rockland County.
CHRISTINA VAN WORMER ROMER.
Christina Van Wormer, daughter of Adrianus Van
Wormer and his wife Hannatje Van Tassel, was born in
Phillips Manor July 21, 1752 ; was baptized at the old Dutch
church, September 6, 1758, with Dirck Van Tassel and wife
as sponsors ; was married to Hendrick Romer, Jr., February
26, 1777 ; died August 31, 1856, aged 104 years ; buried be-
side her husband in the Romer plot in the old Dutch church-
yard. She was a member of this church, but in her later
years she attended church at Elmsford, where her funeral
services were held, Reverend Abel T. Stewart officiating.
Mrs. Romer's husband, Hendrick Romer, was first a
member of the local militia, and afterwards enlisted in
the Continental Line, leaving her with only a young
brother and a slave in charge of the farm. She
was an ardent patriot, and possessed a strong love for
her country. When conversing afterwards upon the scenes
and events of the war, she would become greatly animated
— too much so to express herself in the English language,
so would take up the Dutch, which was familiar to her,
and give forcible expression to her sentiments in approba-
tion of her countrymen, and in detestation of the conduct
of the enemy. Her auditors would be sensibly moved by
her earnestness and would realize the spirit of the men and
women who participated in the struggles and sufferings of
the war. No one could forget her manner when at the age
of 100 years, her face brightened with laughter, yet her
eyes suffused with tears, she told of how a party of British
36
CHRISTINA VAN WORMER ROMER 37
troops, taking possession for several days of her home,
compelled her to bake bread for them, and how, several
Americans having concealed themselves in the rocky fastness
of Farcus Hott, nearby, her husband among them, she
would, whenever opportunity offered, catch up a loaf under
her short gown and run out and throw it to her friends
under the rock.
Possessing a rugged constitution, her health remained
good almost to the last. She kept her own apartments,
boiled her own kettle, maintained her own table, and until
a short time before her death, would walk a mile or more
to the grocery to obtain her supplies. She was very com-
panionable, especially with those who could speak the Dutch
language. Her Dutch Bible was ever within her reach,
and she seemed to know its great truths as she did her
alphabet.
Her husband, Hendrick Romer, died July 23, 1831, aged
79 years.
JAN CORNELIUS VAN TEXELL (VAN TASSEL.)
Jan Cornelius Van Texell was the first of that name
among the earliest Dutch settlers coming to New Nether-
lands. He was one of the well-known Van Texell family, of
Holland, and emigrated to this country about the year 1630.
Sometime after his arrival, Wyandanee, Sachem of Long
Island, gave him his (Wyandance's) daughter in marriage,
she being one of the fourteen Indian women taken into
captivity by Ninigret, chief of the Narragansetts, and after-
wards ransomed through the good offices of Lion Gardiner.
Of this marriage, one son was born, named after his
father, Jan Cornelius Van Texell. He was baptized in
the Dutch Church within Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan
Island. This son was married in 1657 in New Amsterdam
to Antje . They had seven children, named Cornelius,
Jacob, Jan, William, Catherine (who married Hendrick
Lent), Margaret (who married Pieter Storm), and Sarah
(who married Barent de Wit) . These children were all bap-
tized in the first Dutch Church within Fort Amsterdam.
This family afterwards moved from New Amsterdam and
settled in the Indian town of Appamacpo, in Westchester
county, which became a part of the manor of Cortland.
The farm occupied by Jan Cornelius Van Texell, 2nd, com-
prised nearly the whole of the village of Sing Sing. He was
quite a prominent man in that neighborhood. He was
appointed tax collector, and for a number of years prior
to 1700, collected the taxes from this particular town and
38
JAN CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL 39
paid them over to Chidley Brook, the colonial treasurer,
as shown by the following receipts:
"Received from John Cornelius Van Texell by the hands of Col.
Stephen Van Cortland, the sum of nine pounds, out of the four first
taxes, and of such proportion of the same as becomes payable out of
Westchester County and Town of Appamacpo.
"I say received this 31st day of July, 1694.
"Chidley Brook, Collector."
"Received from John Van Texell by the hands of Col. Stephen
Van Cortland, the sum of four pounds ten shillings out of the six
thousand pounds tax, and of such proportion of the same as becomes
payable out of Westchester County and Town of Appamacpo..
"I say received this 26th of August, 1694.
"Chidley Brook, Collector."
Jan Cornelius Van Texell, wife Antje, and their seven
children, were in the year 1697, all members of the old
Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow. One of his sons, Cor-
nelius, married a woman named Antje, which was also his
mother's name, and they settled in Phillipsburg, on a farm,
being a part of the Phillips Manor, and situated in the Saw-
mill River Valley, containing about 200 acres of land,
located about one mile south of the present village of Elms-
ford. Of this marriage a son was born, named Dirck,
who was baptized April 24, 1699. He married Christina
Buise, and had a son named Cornelius, baptized April 1,
1735. This son was later Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel,
of the Revolution.
Jan Cornelius Van Tassel, 2d, had a son Jan, and he also
had a son named Jan, being a great-grandson of Catoneras.
This last-named Jan settled on a farm in Phillips Manor,
near Tarrytown. When the first public highway to Albany
was laid out in 1723, his house was the first house men-
tioned on the route of the highway, south of the old
Dutch Church, and next south of this Van Tassel house
was the house of Abraham Martling. This Jan Van Tassel
was the first sexton mentioned in the records of the old
40 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Dutch church at Sleepy Hollow, he having been ap-
pointed to march at the head of the cortege, in the absence
of the minister, on funeral occasions. The Washington
Irving High School now stands on a part of the farm then
occupied by Sexton Jan Van Tassel.
Wyandance, the great sachem of Long Island, died in
1659. His daughter, known after her marriage to Van
Texell as Catoneras, did not long survive her father. In
1705, her grandchildren, desiring to have the Colonial
authorities grant to them a patent of lands on Long Island,
of the dimensions of four miles by six, which Catoneras
inherited from her father, petitioned the Governor and
council as follows:
FIRST PETITION.
1705.
To his Excellency Edward Viscount Corn-
bury Cap* Gen11 & Govr in Chief in and
over her Majesties Provinces of New York
& New Jerseys and Vice Admirall of the
Same in Councill —
The humble Peticon of Cornelis van Texell Jacob Van Texell,
Jan Van Texell & Willem van Texell Sonns of Jan Cornelisse van
Texell latr Deceased and Hendrick Lent husband of Catharin one
of the Daughters of the said John, Barent DeWit husband of
Sarah another of the Daughters of the said John, and Pieter Storm
husband of Margaret allso a Daughter of the said John, — Humbly
Sheweth
That whereas yor Petrs father as heir to his mother Catonoras a
native Indian of the Island of Nassauw who in her life time was
Seized of a certain Tract or parcell of land lying and being on the
Island aforesaid now in the County of Suffolk neer the Town of
Huntington called by the natives Anendeiack in English Eader
necks beach and so allong the Sound four miles or thereabouts un-
till the fresh Pond called by the natives Assawanama where a
Creeck runns into the Sound and from the Sound running into the
woods Six miles or thereabouts And yor Petrs being all Christians
and professing the holy Protestant Religion and knowing that tho
the heathen were never disturbed in the Peaceable possession of
their lands & Inheritances in this Governm* yor Petrs as Christians
would allso very willingly hold the Same by her Majesties Letters
Pettent under the Seal of this Province.
JAN CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL 41
Yor Petrs therefore humbly Pray yor Ex-
cellency to grant them a Pattent for the land
aforesaid Accordingly.
And yor Petrs as in Duty bound shall Ever
Pray &c.
Cornelis Van Texel
the Mark of
X
Jacob van Texell
Jan Van Texel
Willen van Texel
The marke of
S
Hendrick Lent
Barent de Wit
The mark of
P S
Pieter Storm
(Endorsed)
Petition of Cornelis van Texell
and others.
30 July 1705. Read, to lye upon ye Table.
Probably no action was taken under this first petition;
so in 1713, the grandchildren presented a second petition,
on which an order was granted, referring the matter to
a Committee or Official Board, to consider and report
whether a survey of the lands should be made, and in due
season a report was filed in favor of such a survey, viz :
SECOND PETITION.
1713.
To his Excellency Robert Hunter Esqr
Cap* Gen11 & Govr in Chief in and over her
Maties Provinces of New York and New Jer-
sey and the Territories depending thereon in
America and Vice Admirall of the Same And
the Honbl Councill of the Province of New
York—
The humble Peticon of Cornelis Van Texell Jacob van Texell,
Jan van Texell William van Texell, Catarin Lent, Barent De Wit
and Pieter Storm all Children and Coheirs of Jan Cornelis van
Texell late deceased
Most humble Sheweth
That yor Petitionrs Said fathers mother was an Indian native
Sachem in this Province called Catoneras on the Island Nassauw
42 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
then called Long Island and her relacons being owners of Sundry
large Tracts of land on the said Island did give unto the Said
Catoneras the Pet™ grandmother in part of her fathers Inheritance
a Certain Tract of Land called Crap Meadow Scituate on the
Island aforesaid in Suffolk County running along the Sound four
Miles and Six miles into the woods or thereabouts. And yor
Petrs being all Christians and members of the Protestant Church
and being willing to enjoy their Inheritance by Patent under the
Crown as all other her Majasties Subiets of this Province do enjoy
and hold their lands
They therefore do most humbly pray that
they may have a Warrant to the Surveyor
Generall of this Province to lay out the said
Tract of Land for yor Petition1"8 & that upon
the return thereof they may have a Patent un-
der the great Seale of this Province under
Such moderate Quitrent as to yor Excy and
yor hono1-8 shall seem meet.
And yor Petrs as in duty bound shall ever
Pray etc.
New York 15th May 1713.
Cornells Van Texel
Jacob vn Texel
Johannes Van Texel
May it please yr Excy
In obedience to your Excys order in Council of the 21st of May
last we have Considerd the aforewritten peticon of Cornells Van
Texell and others and are humbly of opinion yr Excy may Grant the
Warrt of Survey therein peticoned for all which is nevertheless
humbly submitted by
Yr Excys most obed* humble Servts
N. York Aprill
16th 1714
A. D : Peyster
S : Staats
Rip Van Dam
Caleb Heathcote
John Barberie
J. Byerley
(Endorsed)
The Petition of Cornells Van Texell & ors,
21st of May 1713 read & referred to
The Gentn of this Board or any five of them.
Jan Cornelius Van Tassel, Sr., was selected to represent
the Long Island Indians before Commissioners appointed
to settle the wars between the Pequots, Narragansetts and
other tribes and was present at meetings of the Commission-
ers held at Boston and elsewhere. No record has been
found as to date of decease or place of burial.
LIEUTENANT CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL.
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel, of the South Battalion
First Regiment, of Westchester militia, of Revolutionary
days, commanded by Colonel Drake, was a lineal descend-
ant of the noted Van Texel family of Holland. His an-
cestor, Jan Cornelius Van Texel being one of the first
to emigrate when it was decided to occupy and settle New
Netherlands.
Jan Cornelius Van Texel, the immigrant, married, shortly
after his arrival, Catoneras, the daughter of an Indian
Chief, named Wyandance, of the Montauk Tribe of In-
dians, living on Long Island. Of that union a son was
born, who was named after his father, Jan Cornelius Van
Tassel. This son married Antje and had seven children.
Himself, wife and their seven children were in the year
1697, all members of the old Dutch Church, in Sleepy
Hollow. One of his sons was also named Cornelius Van
Tassel, who married a woman named Antje, likewise, and
they settled in Phillipsburg. The members of the Van Tas-
sel family had at a very early date become so numerous
that it was customary to designate the various branches
by special names, such as "Gentleman Bill," "Cooper Bill,"
"Crazy Pete," "Weaver John," and one "Devil Bill," etc.,
saints, sinners and patriots.
The farm which this Cornelius Van Tassel and family
occupied as a tenant of the Phillipses, was situated along
the Sawmill River, and comprised about 200 acres of
land. It is located about one mile south of the present
43
44 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
village of Elms ford. The adjoining farm on the south
was occupied by Peter Van Tassel, a member of the County
Committee of Safety for the year 1777, while the farm
■on the west extended to the Hudson River and was occupied
by Captain Jacob Van Tassel, a relative of Lieutenant
Cornelius. The house of Captain Jacob was the head-
quarters of the Water Guard which Washington Irving
has made famous in his Wolfert's Roost, which was pur-
chased by Mr. Irving and occupied by him as his home
under the name of "Sunnyside."
This Cornelius had a son named Dirck, who married
Christina Buise, and had a son Cornelius, who was baptized
April 1, 1735. This son was a lieutenant of the Revo-
lution and the subject of this sketch. He married Elizabeth
Storms, October 16, 1756, and had two children, Cornelius
baptized April 24, 1759, and Leah, born May 20,
and baptized June 17, 1775. Cornelius, the son, was a
celebrated rifleman and a member of the First Colonial
Westchester Regiment. He escaped capture by the British
Dragoons, commanded by Captains Emerick and Barnes
on the night of November 17, 1777, when his father's
house was burned, and he, the father. Lieutenant Van
Tassel, taken prisoner. Cornelius, the son, died January
3, 1780, as the result of his exposure at the time of his
father's capture. Mary, a sister of Lieutenant Van Tassel,
married Lieutenant Zybout Acker, Jr., a grandson of Wol-
fert, first owner of the Roost.
Leah Van Tassel, the infant daughter of Lieutenant Cor-
nelius Van Tassel, who, with her mother, was driven out
of the burning house, subsequently, after the Revolution,
married John Romer, later known as Captain John (son
of Jacob and Frena Romer), who was born November 10,
1764, in what is now called "East View,"— three miles
east of Tarrytown. Leah died January 2, 1843, and is
buried in Greenburg churchyard.
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel was elected an officer
LIEUTENANT CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL 45
of one of the four companies organized in the upper Manor
of Phillipsburg, and was commissioned by the Provincial
Congress in session in New York, and assigned to the Tarry-
town Company First Regiment of Westchester County
Militia, under date of September 2, 1775, this being the
earliest mention of the name Tarrytown yet discovered.
Prior to the Revolution, he was one of the most extensive
and prosperous farmers in the Sawmill River Valley.
In those early times it was customary for well-to-do
farmers to tan their own leather, which was generally made
up once a year into shoes and foot gear by a peripatetic
cobbler, who boarded around among his customers for
various periods of time, according to the size of the family.
In order to prevent the Tories from carrying off the
leather, he caused the vats to be secreted beside a brook
in a dense thicket of brush and vines, upon a portion of
his farm. The enemy came very near discovering their loca-
tion, as they were about to refresh themselves from the
brook, but they fortunately became engaged in wrangling
over a bottle of rum, which was accidentally broken in the
melee, which, from that incident, has since been known as
"Rum Brook," and that name was given to it in the deeds
describing the property in the year 1785.
Although Lieutenant Cornelius lost everything by the
ravages of war, including his only son, he managed, at its
close, to purchase from the Commissioners of Forfeiture
the Sawmill River Farm occupied by his ancestors and
himself as tenants under the Phillipses, and recovered in
some degree from his losses, but found himself unable to
rebuild his house until his daughter, Leah, married John
Romer. He then, joining hands with his son-in-law, erected,
in 1793, a new substantial stone and frame house upon the
site of his old home, burned by the British in 1777, and
in his new home Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel and his
wife Elizabeth, Captain Jacob Romer and wife Frena, and
Captain John Romer and wife Leah, lived and died.
46 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
James Delancy, the Tory sheriff of the county, was the
colonel of a Westchester county regiment of militia that
had been organized for a number of years before the Revo-
lution. Many of the members of that regiment who had
joined it before the war, were subsequently enrolled as
members of the South Battalion of Westchester County
Patriots in the latter militia regiment organized to defend
the colony against British oppression. These members of
the new Colonial regiment were looked upon by the British
as deserters. A certain Colonial act of enrollment required
that in each militia precinct, all persons resident therein
sixteen years of age and upwards, should be enrolled as
being subject to military duty. The officers charged with
the duty of making this enrollment in some cases de-
scribed the persons enrolled as including all "Whigs, Tories,
sick, lame, lazy and distrest." The enforcement of this
enrollment act devolved principally upon the members of
the Committee of Safety, and the performance of their
duties rendered them particularly obnoxious to the Tories.
The Tory Governor Tryon, in command at King's Bridge,
directed Colonel Delancey to form a company out of his
regiment which were called "Rangers." They were
mounted, and the governor to stimulate enlistments in that
branch of the service, offered to the men of that command
a reward of twenty-five dollars for the capture of every
Committeeman of Safety, and five dollars each for every
so-called deserter. This command soon grew to be a very
effective force. It was given the name of Cow Boys, as
their thorough knowledge of the roads and county was a
great help to them in the particular line of cattle capture.
On November 17, 1777, Governor Tryon directed Cap-
tains Emerick and Barnes of his cavalry to carry out his
instructions in respect to the arrest of committeemen and
deserters. They went out on such an errand and succeeded
in taking Committeeman Peter Van Tassel and Lieutenant
Cornelius Van Tassel prisoners and burned their dwellings
FARCUS HOTT
LIEUTENANT CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL 47
and barns. Captain John Romer gives the following ac-
count of the affair:
"The night on which the houses were surprised and burned was
one of the coldest of the season. Lieutenant Van Tassel, on the
first alarm, sprang from the window and tried to escape, being al-
most naked. He was taken prisoner, but never recovered from the
exposure of that night. The Tory captain Joshua Barnes, acted as
guide for Emerick that night, and his voice was heard above the
tumult : 'The houses are both owned by d d rebels, burn them.'
My wife Leah Van Tassel, was the only daughter of Cornelius, and
she was the infant taken out of the house in a blanket by a soldier,
laid on the snow, and the mother, distracted, was seeking her babe,
when he told her where the child was. The only son, Cornelius,
Jr., fled for safety, half naked, to the roof of the house and held
on by the chimney, from which, when the fire began to reach him,
he jumped to the ground. He escaped that night, but caught cold
from which he never recovered."
Another account states that Cornelius, Jr., escaped cap-
ture on this occasion by concealing his head and face with
a blanket, and assisting the British in carrying out the
furniture from the burning dwelling until he could get far
enough away in the darkness to make his escape by running
to the Sawmill River with the British in full chase, as far
as the little stream, which they found frozen over but were
unable to cross without breaking their way through the
ice. This is what the fleeing Cornelius had done and was
well on his way toward the Farcus Hott, the patriots'
place of shelter on the brow of the hill, now called Beaver
Mountain, overlooking the Van Tassel home. Returning
from the chase, the British gathered the horses and cattle
of their captives, Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel and
Peter, his neighbor, and having tied the hands of the pris-
oners to their horses' tails, compelled them to drive the herd
to the Tory camp at King's Bridge.
In the meantime, one of the British soldiers, more humane
than the others, procured, from the loot of the burning
house, a blanket, (some accounts say it was a feather bed),
to cover Mrs. Van Tassel and her child, who had been
placed on the frozen ground beside the little brook only
a little way west df the smoking ruins. After the crew left
48 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
on their return march, Mrs. Van Tassel and her daughter
took refuge in a dirt cellar, where she remained sometime
until aroused by the whinny of a favorite horse, which
had broken away from the herd and returned to its home.
Mounting this horse, she rode away to her father's house.
This outrage on the part of the British and Tories, caused
great excitement and indignation throughout all the neigh-
borhood, and was the subject of sharp correspondence be-
tween the commanders of the opposing forces.
General Samuel H. Parsons, then in command, sent from
his headquarters at Mamaroneck, November 21, 1777, the
following letter by flag of truce to Governor Tryon, com-
manding the British forces at King's Bridge:
"Sir : — Adding to the natural horrors of war, the most wanton
destruction of property, is an act of cruelty unknown to civilized
nations and unaccustomed in war, until the servants of the King of
Great Britain have convinced the impartial world, no act of in-
humanity, no stretch of despotism, are too great to exercise towards
those they term rebels. Had any apparent advantage been derived
from burning the house on Philip's Manor last Monday, there
would have been some reason to justify the measure; but when
no benefit whatever can be proposed by burning those buildings
and stripping the women and children of necessary apparel to cover
them from the severity of a cold night, and captivating and lead-
ing in triumph to your lines, in the most ignominious manner, the
heads of those families, I know not what justifiable cause to
assign for those acts of cruelty; nor can I conceive a necessity for
your further order to destroy Tarrytown. You cannot be insensi-
ble it is every day in my power to destroy the houses and buildings
of Col. Philips, and those belonging to the family of Delancey, each
as near your lines as those buildings were to my guards ; and not-
withstanding your utmost diligence, you cannot prevent the destruc-
tion of every house this side of King's Bridge. It is not fear; it
is not want of opportunity that has preserved those buildings, but
a sense of the injustice and savageness of such a line of conduct
has saved them ; and nothing but necessity will induce me to copy
examples of this sort so often set by your troops.
It is not my inclination, sir, to war in this manner against the
inhabitants within your lines, who suppose themselves within your
King's protection. But necessity will oblige me to retaliate in kind
upon your friends, to procure the exercise of that justice which
humanity used to dictate; unless your explicit disavowal of your
two captains, Emmerick and Barnes, shall convince me those houses
were burned without your knowledge and against your order. I
am, sir, your humble servant,
Samuel H. Parsons.
LIEUTENANT CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL 49
King's Bridge Camp,
Nov. 23, 1777.
Sir : — Could I possibly conceive myself accountable to any re-
volted subject of the King of Great Britain I might answer your
letter received by the flag of truce yesterday, respecting the conduct
of the party under Capt. Emmerick's command.
Upon the taking of Peter and Cornelius Van Tassel ; I have how-
ever candor enough to assure you, as much as I abhor every prin-
ciple of inhumanity, or ungenerous conduct, I should were I in more
authority, burn every committee-man's house within my reach. As
I deem those agents the wicked instruments of the continued calam-
ities of this country; and in order sooner to purge this country of
them I am willing to give twenty-five dollars for every acting com-
mitteeman, who shall be delivered up to the King's troops. I guess
before the end of the next campaign, they will be torn in pieces
by their own countrymen, whom they have forcibly dragged in op-
position to their principles and duty, (after fining them to the
extent of their property) to take up arms against their lawful sov-
ereign, and compelling them to exchange their happy constitution
for oaper, rags, anarchy and distress.
"The ruins from the conflagration of New York by the emissaries
of your party last year, remain a memorial of their tender regards
for their fellow beings exposed to the severity of a cold night.
"This is the first correspondence I have held with the King's
enemies on my Dart in America, and as I am immediately under the
command of Sir Henry Clinton, your future letters dictated with
decency would be more properly directed to his excellency. I am,
Sir, your most obedient servant,
William Tryon.
Maj. Gen'l."
To Gen'l Parsons.
This letter was received by General Parsons on Sunday,
the 23d inst. It is not known that he issued any orders in
reference to it, but its contents were made public, and acted
upon by a party of Van Tassel's company and neighbors,
who upon Tuesday night, the 25th, under command of
Abraham Martling, a Continental soldier, better known as
"Brom" Marlin, who lived and died upon a portion of
Lieutenant Van Tassel's farm, started by boat from the
house of Lieutenant Jacob Van Tassel, the headquarters of
the Water Guard, (Wolfert's Roost) and proceeded to New
York, successfully passing the British Guard boats posted at
Spuyten Duyvil. They landed within the limits of the city
and penetrated to the house of Governor Delancey at Bloom-
ingdale, which they burned.
50 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Lieutenant Van Tassel and Committeeman Peter Van
Tassel were held as prisoners by the British and confined for
eleven months in the old Provost Gaol, in New York, located
where the Hall of Records now stands. The British looked
upon them as civilians and declined their frequent requests
to be exchanged. During their confinement they were
visited by Colonel Alexander Hamilton, appointed by Gen-
eral Washington, and a Mr. Lorring, appointed by Lord
Howe, commissioners to examine into the conditions of
the various prisons. The prisoners at the Provost Gaol
were told that they, being committeemen or civilians, the
commissioners had no authority to act in respect to their
exchange, no arrangements having been made by the oppos-
ing military forces for the exchange of civilian prisoners,
and that they must apply for release through the Governor
of the Colony, which they did by petition. Orders were
then given that prominent Tories should be arrested and
held as hostages for exchange. The first to be arrested
was Alexander White, High Sheriff of Tryon County.
He was required upon trial at Albany to take an oath of
allegiance, which he refused to do, and was then sent to
prison. His wife, thereupon, interceded, and obtained per-
mission to visit Governor Clinton at Albany in an effort
to obtain her husband's release. She afterwards went to
New York and succeeded in having Lieutenant Van Tassel
paroled and sent up to Governor Clinton to be exchanged for
the Sheriff, which exchange was accomplished.
The records show that the release of the Lieutenant and
the Committeeman from prison was effected on October
17, 1778, making just eleven months of captivity.
The following account appears in the book of Audited
Accounts pertaining to the Revolution in the State Archives
at Albany:
LIEUTENANT CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL 51
"THE STATE OF NEW YORK, DR.
"To Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassell.
"To pay while in captivity, from Nov. 17, 1777, to the
17th October 1778 £117.06.8
"To retained rations 13.15.0
"Audited 1784" £131. 1.8
Out of the thirty-nine members of the Van Tassel family
who were engaged in the Continental military service, six-
teen were connected with the South Battalion of the First
Regiment of Westchester Militia. A number of sanguinary
encounters with the British forces took place in the neighbor-
hood of the charred ruins of the Van Tassel homes. The
bodies of six Hessian soldiers are still interred upon a
portion of Lieutenant Van Tassel's old farm, one of them
having been shot while hiding behind a large boulder,
which is still seen near the Worthington Memorial Church.
In 1781, when the American and French forces were
encamped near the Van Tassel farm, Lieutenant Van Tassel
furnished, for the use of the army, 3,000 fence rails. The
war chest was practically empty at that time and he was
compelled to wait seven years for payment for his rails.
In January. 1783, under direction of Captain Daniel Wil-
liams, he proceeded with thirty-three men to attempt the
capture of Colonel Delancey at his quarters in Westchester.
The party did not find the Colonel at home, but looted his
house and hastily withdrew. After crossing the Croton
River, deeming themselves safe, they halted and exposed
their loot for sale or division. While so employed they were
surprised by a party of the enemy sent in pursuit. One
of the militiamen was killed, seven taken prisoners and
several wounded. Among the latter was John Paulding,
one of Andre's captors.
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel died March 6, 1820,
aged eighty-five years, and his wife, Elizabeth Storm, died
March 13, 1825, aged eighty-seven years, and both were
buried in the churchyard of the old Dutch church at Sleepy
Hollow.
THE STORM FAMILY.
Dirck Storm came to this country from Utrecht, Holland,
via Amsterdam, in 1662. Arms : Field, a ship at sea under
storm sail. Crest: The helmet of a knight, vizor closed.
Aff ronte, surmounted by eagle's wings. Motto : "Ver-
trouwt" (In God we trust). His wife, Maria Pieters, and
three sons, Gregoris, Pieter and David, came with him. He
settled first in Harlem, then went to Brooklyn and Flat-
bush, where he served as town clerk in 1670. In 1691, he
was clerk of the Sessions from Orange County, and in
1697, he had removed to Phillips Manor. Here he became
identified with the church and was selected November 3,
1715, to make up a church record from memoranda kept by
Abraham de Revier. This record shows that the church
had from its organization in 1680-5 down to April 18, 1716,
the date of his report, seventy-five members, and that the
church in Cortland Manor had twenty-eight members when
the two churches consolidated about April 21, 1697. His
list of baptisms from April 21, 1697, to April 18, 1716, com-
prise 319 names of children, their parents and sponsors.
He retired as clerk at date of his report. The record of
baptisms in the Storm family shows that for a number of
generations the name Gourus (Gregoris) was a favorite,
the desire evidently being to keep in remembrance the first
of that name coming to this country.
Gregoris Storm and wife Engeltje had a son Nicholas,
who married Rachel Conkling, March 19, 1719. At that
time both were living at Phillips Manor. To them was born
52
-VERTROU^
THE STORM FAMILY 53
a son, Abraham, and a daughter, Elizabeth, and another son,
Isaac. He, Nicholas, married for his second wife Maritje
Dutcher, daughter of Johanis, and had a son, Nicholas, Jr.,
and two daughters, Maritje and Rachel. Rachel married
Isaac Van Wart, one of Andre's captors.
Elizabeth Storm, daughter of Nicholas, senior, married
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel, October 16, 1756, and
to them was born a son, Cornelius, Jr., and a daughter Leah,
who married John Romer.
Nicholas Storm, senior, lived at Storm's Bridge, now
known as Elms ford, and was enrolled as a member of the
Westchester Militia Regiment. Abraham, his son, likewise
lived at Storm's Bridge and maintained a tavern there,
which was partly burned by the Tories the same night
the Van Tassel houses were burned. He was for a short
time captain of the Tarry town Company of militia; was
major of the First Regiment of Minute Men, and was
also a member of the Committee of Public Safety in 1776-7.
Pieter Storm, son of Dirck, the immigrant, married
Margaret Van Tassel, daughter of Jan Cornelius, 2d, and
granddaughter of Catoneras, daughter of Wyandance.
David Storm, son of Dirck, was chosen as one of the
deacons of the old Dutch Church, and afterwards served
several terms as elder.
Nicholas Storm, Jr., enlisted July, 1776, in Captain Wil-
liam Dutcher's company, and was stationed at Tarrytown
for six weeks. In October, he again enlisted in the same
company, also in January, 1777, and again in January, 1778.
In May, 1779, he served under Captain Daniel Martling.
SKETCHES FROM SOUVENIR VOLUME OF
MONUMENT DEDICATION AT TARRYTOWN.
On the 19th day of October, 1894, there was dedicated
at Tarrytown, N. Y. a Revolutionary soldiers' monument,
erected in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. A souvenir volume
containing a record of the proceedings on the occasion of
the dedication and brief sketches of the lives of some of
the sturdy Westchester County patriots who were active
participants in the great struggle for independence was
compiled by Marcius R. Raymond, Esq., of Tarrytown,
secretary of the monument committee, and published by
the committee in 1894.
From this volume the following extracts have been taken :
A. Statement by Lieutenant Samuel Youngs.
"In the month of December, 1776, all the Continental
troops having been withdrawn from what was then estab-
lished as the American lines, which was from Tarrytown
on the Hudson River eastwardly by the way of the house
of my father, Joseph Youngs, and the White Plains to the
East River, the inhabitants residing on these lines were left
exposed to the plundering parties of British refugees, who
with some British troops held possession of the southern
part of the county. The Committee of Public Safety or-
dered out the Militia of that part of the county who be-
longed to Colonel Hammond's Regiment, who were accord-
ingly stationed on the Tuckahoe Road, and some of them
54
MONUMENT DEDICATION AT TARRYTOWN 55
at the houses of Peter Van Tassel and Cornelius Van Tassel
on the Sawmill River Road; that about 120 of Colonel
Hammond's regiment were continued in the American Serv-
ice on those lines from the beginning of December, 1776.
until May, 1777.
"That in the month of August, 1777, a regiment of levies
was raised in the Counties of Dutchess and Westchester,
consisting of about 500 men, and placed under the command
of Colonel Ludington and Lieutenant Colonel Hammond,
for the term of four months. In the month of November
or December, Colonel Ludington's Regiment was discharged,
having served the period of their enlistment, and the defence
of the American lines was again left entirely to the Whig
inhabitants; that Colonel Hammond ordered out a part of
his regiment for the protection of those who were daily
sustaining serious losses from the plundering British refu-
gees; and those lines were wholly defended at that period
by the Whig militia of Colonel Hammond's Regiment, from
October, 1777, to the beginning of May, 1778.
"That sometime in March, 1778, Colonel Emerick, who
commanded about 300 men composed of British and Refu-
gees, sent out Lieutenant Althouse with thirty-two men,
to take and bring in the cattle of Joseph Youngs, and of
other Whig inhabitants of the neighborhood.
"This deponent, Samuel Youngs, was cutting wood about
one-quarter of a mile from his father's, the said Joseph
Youngs' house, when he was informed that a party of the
British were approaching his said father's house. He im-
mediately started for his home, but when he had arrived
within fifty yards, he discovered the party of Althouse
driving the stock from the yard. Then he ran toward the
house of Sergeant John Dean, whom he soon met and in-
formed him that the British were then driving off his
father's cattle. Dean was well armed, and told the deponent
that he would find arms and ammunition at his house, and
that in the meantime he would endeavor to get a shot at
56 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
them. The deponent accordingly proceeded to Dean's house,
and Mrs. Dean handed him three muskets and two bunches
of cartridges, while the enemy were within 300 yards of
them. That deponent then soon got to the south of Alt-
house's party of marauders, knowing where he would fall
in with about twenty of the Militia ; during which time John
Dean, Jacob Acker and Hendrick Romer had attacked the
enemy and commenced firing upon them. This alarmed
the Militia so that when the deponent arrived at the house
where they were stationed, he found about twenty-five men
ready for the contest, but without an officer to command
them. The Militia concealed themselves behind a stone wall
near the road that Althouse must pass with his men and the
stock which he had taken. They were permitted to approach
within about fifty yards before the Militia opened fire. Alt-
house had divided his party, one part driving the stock,
while the main party was approaching the stone wall. Be-
fore the main attack was made, John Dean and his com-
panions, Jacob Acker and Hendrick Romer, had commenced
their attack on the party driving the stock and had killed a
man named Mike Hart. Immediately after Hart fell we
opened fire, killing one and wounding three. We then sprang
over the wall to attack them with the bayonet. Althouse
gave us his fire as we were on the wall, by which John
Buchannan was shot through the shoulder and Nicholas
Banker through the thigh. Althouse immediately abandoned
his plunder and retreated. We were then joined by John
Dean and his companions, and after a running fight of about
four miles, we succeeded in killing or taking Althouse and
all of his men, except his guide.
"The Militia on or near these lines were again called out
and remained in position until the middle of January, 1779,
when Colonel Aaron Burr took command with about 500
Continental troops. A number of young men of that neigh-
borhood enlisted to serve under him as horsemen at that
time, of whom were the deponent and Sergeant John Dean.
MONUMENT DEDICATION AT TARRYTOWN 57
Colonel Burr was succeeded in April, 1779, by Major Wil-
liam Hull, who was driven from those lines in June follow-
ing, by a party of British troopers under command of
Colonel Tarleton.
"After the defeat and retreat of Hull, the Whig inhab-
itants of Colonel Hammond's Regiment immediately formed
themselves under some of the officers of said regiment and
for a time kept the plundering parties of refugees in check,
until almost all the stock was driven back into the country
for safety, when the Militia also had to retire over the
Croton River. That in the winter of 1780 deponent en-
gaged to serve as one of the guides to the Continental troops
stationed on those lines. That some time in the month of
September while deponent was a guide to the troops on those
lines, and then under the command of Colonel Jameson,
whose headquarters were at a place called Mile Square, in
said County of Westchester, about the 23rd day of Sep-
tember, 1780, the deponent well recollects that the said John
Dean, Isaac Van Wart, David Williams, John Paulding,
James Romer, Abraham Williams, John Yerks and Isaac
See arrived at the quarters of Colonel Jameson, bringing
with them a prisoner who said his name was John Ander-
son, together with a number of papers concealed in the boot
of the prisoner at the time he was taken, and that a few days
afterwards it was discovered that the prisoner was Major
John Andre, Adjutant General of the British Army, etc."
B. Statement by John Dean.
"One little matter that occurred in our county during the
Revolutionary War, I will try to relate. One Lieutenant
Althouse, and Lieutenant Barnes (of Delancey's Regiment)
made an excursion into our county, with twenty-two men
each. Lieutenant Althouse came up by the Sawmill River
Road, and went up to the upper part of what is called Phil-
lips Manor, and collected quite a drove of cattle, and Barnes
58 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
went through the White Plains to North Castle, and col-
lected quite another drove, and on Christmas morning Alt-
house came down the Sawmill River Road, and Barnes by
the way of White Plains, about 9 or 10 o'clock in the morn-
ing; and the news spreading quickly, the Militia soon
marched after them and overtook them above where Green-
burg Church now stands, and began to attack them, but not
in force sufficient to make a formidable attack. Captain
Martling, at Tarrytown, was alarmed and rallied in haste
with what part of his company he could collect, proceeded
by the road to the bridge over the river, near the church,
and joined the party already harassing the enemy; and the
force by this time was so formidable that they were obliged
to leave their drove and try to save themselves ; but the
Militia men, in hot pursuit, took some prisoners and killed
others, so that not one escaped but James Husted, their
guide ; while the party under Barnes, at the White Plains,
suffered the same 'fate ; I believe not one escaped, and so
both of the Tory parties lost their Christmas dinner of beef.
It caused some rejoicing among our people, and the owners
of the droves recovered their stock."
C. The Van Tassel Family.
"To tell the story of Philipse Manor without a sketch of
the Van Tassel family would be like leaving Hamlet out of
the play. They were one of the most numerous and con-
spicuous families of the Manorial period, and were the very
impersonation of some of its most marked characteristics.
The blood of Thor was in their veins and their struggle for
freedom in Friesland had made them veritable sons of Mars.
Wherever a Van Tassel waved his gonfalon it was the sig-
nal for an onset against the enemy, and in the border war-
fare that waged with such fierceness on this Manor during
the Revolution they were ever in the forefront.
"Jan Cornelius Van Tassel was the first of that name
MONUMENT DEDICATED AT TARRYTOWN 59
known to have come to New Netherland. Among the first
settlers to locate upon Philipse Manor were John, Jacob
and Cornelius Van Tassel, grandsons of the first mentioned.
They were the thirty-eighth, fifty-second and seventy-third
persons whose names appear upon the roll of members of
the old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow. Dirck, the son of
Cornelius, was the twenty-fifth person baptized previous to
1699. In 1723 he married at the church in Hackensack,
N. J., Christina Buise, daughter of Aaron Buise, who was
an officer of the old Dutch Church, from 1743 to 1767. His
five daughters and son Cornelius were all baptized at that
church, the latter in 1734. A receipt given to Dirck Van
Tassel by Frederick Philipse, dated December 22, 1767, for
£6 2s. 6d., for rent of the farm, is still preserved. Lieutenant
Cornelius married Elizabeth Storm, daughter of Nicholas,
and sister of Captain Abraham Storm, the first Captain
elected for the company that was known as the Tarrytown
Company.
"When peace was proclaimed. Lieutenant Van Tassel
purchased his old farm from the Commissioners of Forfeit-
ure, but on account of the losses incurred, was unable to
rebuild his dwelling. His only son having died from ex-
posure received in fighting for his country, he postponed the
affair until the marriage of his daughter Leah to John
Romer, son of Jacob Romer, Senior, who with his four
brothers had been active participants in the cause of Inde-
pendence ; and in 1793, they erected the dwelling still stand-
ing, of which a photo representation appears herewith, and
where for upward of fifty years the annual town meetings
of the township of Greenburg were held. Here Lieutenant
Van Tassel and wife spent their remaining days. John
Romer became captain in the War of 1812. He was not
only a well-known man among men, but, it is said, was
decided by vote at a general election to be the best looking
man in the town ! He died at the age of ninety, beloved by
every one.
60 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
D. The Martling Family.
"An Abraham Martling lived on Beaver Hill, near the
Sawmill River Valley. In his application for a pension,
dated April 17, 1818, he says he was aged fifty-five; that he
enlisted sometime in October, 1779, in Captain Shaffer's
company, of Colonel Armand's regiment of horse and foot,
N. Y. Line, and so continued in the service until May, 1783,
when he was discharged at Charleston, South Carolina.
That he was in the battle at Yorktown at the taking of
Cornwallis. He was a pensioner from 1818, and died Janu-
ary 1, 1841. His widow, Fanny Romer Martling, applied
for pension December 24, 1846. He was buried at Green-
burg (Elmsford) Churchyard. He is said to have been with
the party that went down the river in boats and raided and
burned General Oliver Delancey's house, near Blooming-
dale, on the night of Tuesday, November 25, 1777, in re-
taliation for the destruction of the Van Tassell houses in
the Sawmill River Valley a few nights previous. Captain
John Romer gives the following account of that affair: 'I
don't know who commanded the party that burnt General
Delancey's house on the 25th of November, 1777, but believe
it was Captain Buchanan of the Water Guards. The party
came down the river from above in whale boats with muffled
oars and stopped at Tarrytown. After taking some volun-
teers on board they then went on down the river. They
burnt the house and brought off considerable plunder.'
"Sergeant Isaac Martling, the story of whose tragic death
still lives in tradition, as well as on the pages of history, and
with all of its grim import is perpetuated on the moss-
covered tombstone of his grave, was a son of Abraham
Martling, senior, and a brother of Captain Daniel and Cor-
poral David Martling. He had been a soldier in the French
War, having enlisted in Captain Gilchrist's company, March
27, 1759, and mustered on May 1 of that year. On the
original roll his age is given as seventeen at that time, his
height five feet seven inches, with dark eyes and dark com-
plexion.
MONUMENT DEDICATED AT TARRYTOWN 61
"The account of his tragic death is thus related by Mrs.
George Lawrence, now seventy-six years of age, and resid-
ing at Hartsdale, Westchester County, whose maiden name
was Adaline Requa, granddaughter of Gabriel Requa, a
soldier of the Revolution, and Elizabeth Martling, his wife,
who was the daughter of Sergeant Isaac Martling: Her
great-grandfather was killed in front of the old Martling
house, at Tarrytown. He had been to the near-by spring,
still in common use in that neighborhood, for a pail of water,
and was just about to enter the house when he was murder-
ously stricken down, inhumanly slain, as is recorded upon
his tombstone, by Nathaniel Underhill, the 'inhumanity' of
the act being aggravated by the fact that Sergeant Martling
was unarmed as well as one-armed, and had no opportunity
to defend himself. The Nathaniel Underhill who so slew
this one-armed patriot of two wars was a notorious Tory
who lived on the southern part of the Manor in the vicinity
of Yonkers. It is said that Sergeant Martling had once
caused his arrest, hence personal animosity sharpened his
cruel hate. After independence was achieved, he found it
convenient to retire to Nova Scotia, with other Tory refu-
gees, and died there.
"Captain John Romer in his later years gave the following
account of the affair: 'On the 26th of May, 1779, a party
of refugees (Tories) suddenly came upon Tarrytown. The
inhabitants drove their cattle in great alarm into the woods
north of Pocantico Brook, on the first approach of the
enemy. In consequence of their numbers, Captain Bu-
chanan (of the Water Guards) had found it necessary to
retreat across the Pocantico, where he lay in ambush await-
ing their advance, but they did not go so far. At Tarry-
town they killed Isaac Martling, or rather, Nathaniel Un-
derhill killed him. Then they pushed for the house of James
Requa, where a guard was kept during most of the War,
which they surprised, but the whole party made their escape,
except one, who was killed, and whose name was John Van
62 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Tassel.' Captain Romer likewise gives an account of the
killing of Polly or Katrine Buckhout. He says she was
'killed by a Yager rifleman belonging to a party under
Emerick who were patrolling on the west side of the Saw-
mill River. She imprudently appeared at the door of the
house with a man's hat on, when two hostile parties were
near each other, and was killed by mistake for an enemy.
The Yager fired without orders, and Emerick made apology,
being much mortified at the occurrence. The house where
this occurred was near to and a little above the Sawmill
River Church."
E. Statement of John Yerks.
"John Yerks, of the town of Mount Pleasant, County of
Westchester, being duly sworn, saith that he was seventy-
seven years of age on the 11th day of November last. That
he lived with his father at the beginning of the Revolutionary
War, about one mile north of the house of Joseph Youngs,
where the Americans generally kept their headquarters.
That sometime about the 23rd of September, 1780, John
Dean, together with the deponent, and John Paulding, Isaac
Van Wart, David Williams, Abraham Williams, James
Romer and Isaac See, being on a scouting party between
the American and British outposts, proceeded near to the
old Post Road, or what was then called the North River
Road, near Tarry town. That their object was to intercept
droves of cattle that were frequently stolen and driven to the
British troops. That the party there halted, and the better
to effect their object, mutually agreed to separate. The said
John Dean, James Romer, Abraham Williams and Isaac
See, and the deponent, undertook to watch the private road
about one-quarter of a mile east of the said Post Road, and
Isaac Van Wart, John Paulding and David Williams were
to remain on or near the old Post Road. That a short time
after the said party had so separated, Isaac Van Wart, John
Paulding and David Williams joined the others of the party
on the top of the hill with a prisoner who called himself
MONUMENT DEDICATION AT TARRYTOWN 63
John Anderson. The prisoner when taken had a horse,
saddle and bridle, a gold watch and some money."
Another statement was made by John Yerks, under date
of November 12, 1845, in which he said: "I am now eighty-
seven years old. Six of us started from North Salem, being
at that time either volunteers in the service or eight months'
men. At Cross River we were joined by David Williams.
We then passed Rundell's Mills on Cross River and so
through Bedford to where Union Village now stands and,
stopping at the widow Anderson's, inquired for news. She
informed us that she had just come up from Morrisania,
where there appeared to be great commotion among the
British troops. We then proceeded about three-fourths of
a mile further toward Tarrytown, and after resting awhile
in a hay barrack, resumed our march and arrived in the
night at Jacob Romer's, situated a quarter of a mile from
the White Plains and Tarrytown Road, where we took
supper. We then took advice and held a council of war.
That night we passed at Jacob Romer's, and having matured
all our plans, rose early in the morning. We then took our
stations, Paulding, Williams and Van Wart watching the
Post Road, and the other four ambushing the refugees'
path. It was about ten or eleven when Major Andre was
taken, and his captors soon joined us at our station, when
we all proceeded with the prisoner to Jacob Romer's, where
we partook of some refreshments, Andre refusing to eat or
drink anything; seemed unwilling to talk and desirous of
being alone. Before starting on the expedition, we had
applied to Captain Baker and our other commanding officers,
and they had full knowledge of and approved our enter-
prise."
F. Statement of Mrs. Charity Tompkins.
"Mrs. Charity Tompkins, in an interview, date of August
31, 18-17, gives the following sketch of the Romer family,
early of this vicinity :
64 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
"Old Mr. (Jacob) and Mrs. Romer, parents of John
Romer, came from the same parish, or village, in Switzer-
land, and had become attached to each other in early child-
hood; she the daughter of a farmer, and he the son of a
tailor and a tailor himself. When grown up they wanted
to marry, but her parents refused consent. They then
determined to seek their fortunes in America, and left their
native place together. When they arrived at New York she
had money to pay her passage, while his means were ex-
hausted. He was about to sell himself for a time, as the
custom was then, when she said : 'You can earn money to
purchase my freedom sooner than I can yours. Let me be
sold, then you can work at your trade until you can earn
enough to buy my time, when we will marry.' He consented
to this arrangement and paid for his passage with her money,
while she was sold. When he had earned sufficient, her
freedom was bought, and so they were married, August 11,
1754. Her name was Frena Haarlager.
This Jacob had five sons, John, James, Jacob, Joseph and
Hendrick, all of whom were Revolutionary soldiers. The
latter, born 1755, afterwards removed to Cortland town,
where he died 1808, leaving descendants by two marriages.
John married Leah, the only daughter of Cornelius Van
Tassel. James Romer was one of those who made up the
party at the time of capture of Andre, but the following
account is given by John, who was afterwards known as
Captain John Romer : "The captors of Andre stopped at my
father's in the morning before day and took breakfast, and
took a dinner, prepared for them by my mother, in a pewter
basin and basket. They stopped a little upon the hillock east
of the road and north of the brook, afterwards crossed the
road and when they captured Andre were south of the
brook. After the capture they forgot all about the basket
and basin, but on arriving at our house described where they
had left them and I was sent for and found them. Paulding
returned from the capture in advance of the rest. My
MONUMENT DEDICATION AT TARRYTOWN 65
mother was a very warm Whig. Paulding said to her, "Aunt
Fanny, take care what you say now ; I believe we've got a
British officer with us." My father's house was about a
quarter of a mile from the White Plains and Tarry town
Road, and a quarter from the Post Road. The brook where
Andre was taken was called Qark's Kill. After his capture
he was taken into the thicket on the east side of the road and
to the old white-wood tree, about 150 yards from the brook
near which he was taken, and it was under that tree that
they searched him and discovered his papers."
DESCENDANTS OF CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER.
Of the thirteen children of John and Leah Romer, we
have but meager records, save in one or two instances.
Isaac died when six years old ; Cornelius died at the age
of thirty-six; Edward died when quite young; Hiram
married and settled in central New York, near Jamesville,
south of Syracuse; John married and made his home in
Tarrytown until his wife Cecelia died, afterwards he made
his home in New York. Ardenas married Deborah Ann
Free, and had four children— Silas, Isaac, Rachel and
Elizabeth, all of whom are now deceased. A daughter of
Rachel, Myra S. Walker, now lives at Moline, 111.
Alexander married first Henrietta D. Crane in New
York, and later removed to Buffalo, N. Y. Of this mar-
riage five children were born— Ann, Isaac. Livingston,
Washington and Martin. The three last named served with
credit in the Civil War. Washington was wounded at Chat-
tanooga. He married, had one daughter, and died at New-
ark, N. J. Livingston died of wounds received in Virginia.
Martin married, had one daughter, and died at Hurley, N. Y.
Ann married Henry Jeudevine, and settled in Detroit. Isaac
married Wealthy A. Burt and settled in Buffalo, where he
died in 1907, leaving a son and one daughter, Sarah B.
Romer. In 1845, Alexander Romer married his second
wife, Caroline C. Lockwood, daughter of Lieutenant Luther
Lockwood, a soldier of the War of 1812, and Minerva
Hawley, his wife. There were four children of this mar-
riage—James Fuller and Emma Palmer, both of whom
66
CHRISTENA GRAHAM. DAUGHTER. AND JOHN ROMER, SON. OF
CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER
ALEXANDER ROMER AND CAROLINE C. LOCKWOOD.H1S WIFE
ED
3 6 Yee-r; LontHs.
CATHARINE LENT,
WIFE OF ■*
CORNELIUS ROMER-
DIED
April 3,1866,
AGE\D
68 Years 4 Months & 28 Days-
JOHN LOCKWOOD ROMER
:fe*
KATHER1NE TAYLOR ROMER
DESCENDANTS OF CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 67
died in infancy, and John Lockwood Romer, now, (1916),
living in Buffalo, and Carrie, who was born in the old
Van Tassel-Romer house in the Sawmill River Valley.
She married Millard F. Windsor, of Buffalo, and died
July 3, 1906, leaving two daughters, Mildred Windsor
and Ellen Josephine Windsor. John Lockwood Romer mar-
ried Katherine M. Taylor, of Cleveland, Ohio. Of this
marriage, three children were born — Ray Taylor Romer;
Florence Romer, who married Reverend Charles C. Albert-
son, D. D., now residing in Brooklyn, and has one daugh-
ter, Katherine R. Albertson ; and Mabel Romer, who mar-
ried Harold H. Baker, M. D., now residing in Rochester,
N. Y., and has a son, John Simeon Baker.
Alexander Romer was born in the Romer- Van Tassel
homestead in the Sawmill River Valley, October 1, 1801,
and here his boyhood was spent. From youth to early
manhood he lived in the city of New York. He moved to
Buffalo in September, 1830, where he carried on business
as a carpenter and builder. In 1850 he returned to his
boyhood home for a brief period, but in 1858 again took
up his residence in Buffalo, removing to Lancaster, in Erie
County, in 1862, where he resided for twenty-four years.
During the administration of Mr. Lincoln, he was appointed
and served as postmaster at Town Line Village. He died
in Buffalo on July 3, 1888, aged eighty-seven years. On the
occasion of his funeral, Reverend L. D. Ferguson, D. D.,
delivered the following address :
"The illusiveness of our earthly life has been witnessed and
lamented by the greater number of our species, as one by one they
have passed into the cloud-land — that realm of mystery and silence.
They have not reached the objects of their ambition; they have
not realized their anticipations; have not filled up their purposes;
have not enjoyed the Canaan of their hopes. Disappointment and
dissatisfaction have seemed to them the reward of their sacrifices
and exertions.
_ "So we must confess it has been with us who are yet among the
living. We have found life unlike what we wished and dreamed.
Our ideal has not been reached ; our over-sanguine hopes have not
been fulfilled ; but cur allotment has been chiefly a recurrence of
fluctuating feelings. Our high resolves, our boundless plans, our
68 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
strong determinations, have been clouded by partial failure, until
at length we have yielded to repinings or despair; saying at times
with the Patriarch Jacob, 'Few and evil have been the days of my
pilgrimage.'
"And yet, while we do not win what we expected, we get some-
thing which in other time may be of great value. We get patience
in adversity ; we get fortitude to bear our pain and disappointments ;
we get firmness and constancy ; we get persistency even in reverses ;
we get character, which is the substance of heaven itself, without
which spiritual realities cannot be comprehended.
"But through the changes and fleeting experiences of life our de-
parted brother has already passed. He has had his share in its
enterprises, in its successes and reverses, until the rolling wave has
died upon the shore, and the once heaving breast is still.
"As a rare exception to the common frame of men, his spirit
was that of cheer and hope unto the last. Hope was the light which
shed its influence upon his faculties and life. This may have
arisen partly from the native bias of his mind ; partly from his firm
trust in the final well-being of our redeemed race; or further, from
the fortunate blessings he experienced in the kindness and helpful
power of his dutiful children.
"His always seemed to me a blameless life. His heart seemed
full of kindness; ready to pity weakness; to forgive injuries; to
sympathize with justice; while he was modest, generous, unaffected;
a friendly friend, and not the simulator of qualities which he did
not really possess.
"Such in brief, is the aspect in which the character of this ven-
erable man presented itself to an observer; one whom I have valued
as a steadfast friend.
"Let us part with him then, with the trust that when the final
moment came, his spirit of hope and cheer and confidence met with
response from the other shore, and with a spirit of welcome which
assured inheritance with those who, through faith and patience,
'inherit the promises,' — an inheritance not gained by purchase, but
is alone the gift of God.
"And now, you, whose hearts beat into each other, whose spirits
feel in common the wound that death has made, be ye comforted
in this, that your care and kindness have made a father's later
years less heavy than the common lot, and death less dreaded ;
and may you each, and may you all, when care and dying are
among the things that are no more, meet whispers from the open
doors of paradise, saying, 'Peace, grace and mercy from God our
Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.' "
Caroline C. Romer, widow of Alexander Romer, died
August 28, 1894. Reverend Willis P. Odell, D. D., offici-
ated at her funeral. The following notice appeared in the
Buffalo Christian Advocate:
"On Tuesday evening, August 28, Mrs. Caroline C. Romer, of
Buffalo, in her eighty-fourth year, entered into rest. For several
o
JO
m
en
H
r
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n
m
m
H
m
jo
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CARRIE ROMER WINDSOR
DESCENDANTS OF CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 69
years she had been a great sufferer, but bore all with true Chris-
tian patience and fortitude. She was a woman of strong char-
acter, with a marked and rich experience in the divine life. Dur-
ing her protracted illness her faith and hope were triumphant over
her intense sufferings, so that she exemplified in a high degree 'the
patience of the saints.' The deceased was a member of Delaware
Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, and mother of John L. Romer,
Esq., of this city."
Carrie Romer Windsor died in Buffalo July 3, 1906.
Reverend Charles C. Albertson, D. D., officiated at her
funeral. The following notices appeared in the Buffalo
Commercial :
"The death of Mrs. Millard F. Windsor, which occurred on Tues-
day of this week, was a painful surprise to a great number of
friends. Her illness was of short duration, the first intimation of
it, except to a few, being the announcement of her death. Mrs.
Windsor had been a resident of Buffalo for thirty years and was
highly esteemed in social, philanthropic and church circles as a
woman of many virtues. Her sunny disposition endeared her to
all and her effectiveness in good works made her a valuable asso-
ciate in benevolent enterprises. She is survived by her husband and
two young daughters, and by her brother, John L. Romer.
"The funeral of Mrs. Millard F. Windsor, who died on Tuesday,
was held from the family residence, 703 West Ferry Street, at
three o'clock this afternoon. Reverend C. C. Albertson, D.D.,
former pastor of the Delaware Avenue Methodist Church, assisted
by Reverend R. F. Hurlburt, officiated. The honorary bearers were
James Fenton, Robert Keating, John W. Robinson, Hiram Watson,
Hiram Waltz, A. G. Sherman, A. H. Dickinson and John Humble.
The active bearers were T. J. Overturf, George M. Ramsdell,
William Lansill, William D. Cushman, Robert W. Murphy, L. A.
Mattice, Otto G. Spann and Robert W. Gallagher. Interment was
in Forest Lawn."
Isaac J. Romer, oldest son of Alexander Romer, died in
Buffalo, May 1, 1907. The following notice appeared in a
Buffalo daily paper:
"Isaac J. Romer, who had been a resident of this city for over
seventy-six years, coming to Buffalo ia its infancy and growing up
with its development, passed away yesterday at his home, 380
Rhode Island Street, after an illness of a week. Mr. Romer was
born in New York City seventy-eight years ago, the son of the
late Alexander Romer. With his parents he came to Buffalo in
1830 by way of the canal. He received his education in this city,
and then embarked in the lumber and contracting business, which
he continued practically all his life. He was in partnership with
William Pooley for a number of years, but had mostly engaged
in business for himself.
70 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
"Mr. Romer is survived by one son and one daughter. He
was a brother of John L. Romer. His wife, Wealthy A. Burt, died
some four years ago. The funeral will be held from the family
home tomorrow afternoon."
Of the daughters of Captain John Romer and his wife
Leah, Nancy married Isaac Burr, of Greenburg; Christina
married William Graham ; Elizabeth married Barker ;
Phoebe married first, Charles A. Righter, of Powerville,
N. J. A son, Charles A. Righter, Jr., was born, who married
Winifred Thomas. To them was born a son, Lincoln
Righter, now of Boston, Mass., and a daughter, Ethel Field
Righter. Lincoln Righter married Clara H. Napier, to
whom was born a daughter Constance, who married Robert
D. Morse. Ethel Field Righter married Raymond Hunt-
ington Woodman, now residing in Brooklyn, N. Y., and
to them were born two daughters — Winifred Woodman
and Jocelyn Woodman.
Phoebe Romer Righter married for her second husband
Edward S. Pepper, of Tarrytown, and of this marriage was
born a daughter, Elvie, who married Clifton H. Markoe,
but did not long survive her marriage.
Angeline Romer married John C. A. Hamilton, a grand-
son of General Alexander Hamilton, of Revolutionary fame,
September 20, 1838, and died December 4, 1889. Of this
marriage two sons were born — Edgar A. Hamilton and
John C. L. Hamilton, both of whom are living, Edgar be-
ing pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Sussex, N. J., and
John C. L., living in retirement at Elms ford, N. Y.
Both Edgar and John served with distinction throughout
the Civil War.
Edgar married first, Martha Ecob, and second, Mrs.
Carrie Rogers Tolfree. His oldest son, Edgar Laurens
Hamilton, is a Baptist clergyman now living at Hudson,
Mass., who has four children — Harold R., Alexander, Philip
DESCENDANTS OP CAPTAIN JOHN ROMER 71
Schuyler and Eveline Hope. Edgar's second son, James
Arthur Hamilton, has two children, Margaret Elizabeth and
Martha Louise. He resides in Gainesville, Georgia. Edgar's
first daughter, Grace Holmes Hamilton, is a member of the
Bible Institute in New York, and his second daughter,
Eleanor Ecob, is now principal in charge of Miami Valley-
Hospital, at Dayton, Ohio.
John C. L. Hamilton married Sarah F. Pugh, of Washing-
ton, N. C. To them four sons and one daughter were born.
Frank is the general superintendent of the Department
of Horticulture in New York City parks; Mary Schuyler
Hamilton is engaged in educational work ; Philip L. is fore-
man for Pierson & Company; Joseph T. is an engineer;
and John C. resides with his parents.
WHERE JOHN ANDRE WAS CAPTURED.
G. A. R. Flag-Raising at Elmsford Schoolhouse Recalls Revo-
lutionary Days in Hudson Valley— Some New History.
Eighteen miles from New York, in one of the loveliest
portions of the beautiful valley of the Hudson, lies the vil-
lage of Elmsford, little known to fame, but surrounded by
historic sites and patriotic traditions second to those of no
other small town in the State. Hither, a fortnight ago
(September 28), came the members of Lafayette Post, No.
140, G. A. R., to partake of the hospitality of the good peo-
ple of Elmsford, and to present to them an American flag to
float over their new schoolhouse.
It was a great festal day for Elmsford and vicinity. The
people came for many miles around, and there were many
speeches and songs and wild cheers when Old Glory crept
up the flagstaff. There was a genuine Rhode Island clam-
bake, too, and good cheer and good-fellowship on every
hand.
Next to the patriotism of the people, what interested the
veterans most was the Revolutionary history and traditions
of Elmsford. And in these matters they could not have
had a better tutor than their old comrade-in-arms, Col. J. C.
L. Hamilton, great-grandson of that most illustrious son
of New York, the great soldier and statesman who sleeps in
Trinity churchyard.
72
WHERE JOHN ANDRE WAS CAPTURED 73
The Colonel lives at Elmsford, and is a member of La-
fayette Post. His grandfathers were John Romer and
Cornelius Van Tassel, and his great-grandfather was Alex-
ander Hamilton, all of whom were in the battle of White
Plains in 1776. Colonel Hamilton was a soldier in the late
Civil War, serving in the Fifth New York Volunteers and
the Third New York Artillery.
Under the old trees, in the shadow of many an historic
structure, that fair autumn afternoon, chatting quietly with
his comrades, Colonel Hamilton gave old-time stories, remi-
niscences and traditions, many of which are published for
the first time in today's Mail and Express. Here are some
of the things he said and showed to them :
Historic Ground.
The present village of Elmsford was named Storm's
Bridge from 1704 to 1785; Greenburg, from 1785 to 1845;
Hall's Corners, from 1845 to 1865, and took its present name
in 1865. It is situated midway between White Plains and
Tarrytown, and occupies one of the most attractive and pic-
turesque situations in the famous riparian valley. It is noted
in history as having been settled in Colonial times by the
Ackers, Storms, Van Tassels, Boyces, Van Warts, Romers
and others whose descendants did yeoman service in the
days of '76. Everybody, it seems, was expected to do mili-
tary service in those days, all of 16 years and upward be-
ing enrolled into companies which elected officers who were
in 1775 commissioned by Congress. Upon the commission
given to Captain Abraham Storm and Lieutenant Cornelius
Van Tassel the name of Tarrytown appears for the first
time that it can be found on any record yet discovered. The
position of the company commanded by these two sturdy
men was at Elmsford, and within the northern tdge of the
Neutral Ground, and it was stubbornly defended for eight
long years by patriots whose names the pen of history has
somewhat neglected.
74 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
About two miles south of Elmsford General Washington
selected the camp for the French and American armies in
1781. His headquarters, which were in the house of Lieut.
Appleton, of Captain Storm's company, have long since dis-
appeared, but Count Rochambeau's headquarters — a few
minutes' walk from the spot — still remain and are occupied.
It is a unique dwelling, as may be readily imagined, as it
was built in 1730 by John Tompkins, who seven years later
paid twelve bushels of wheat for rent of the farm. This
transaction appears by a receipt still in existence, though
stained and yellow with its age of 158 years. It reads as
follows :
"Rec'd this 3d Feb., 1737, of John Tompkins twelve bushells of
Wheat it being for a Year's Rent due to me for the farm he lives
on. Fred Philips."
Some Old Papers.
Captain Abraham Storm occupied several hundred acres
of land in this neighborhood, and in 1785 purchased from
the Commissioners of Forfeitures the farm which now com-
prises the village of Elmsford. This pious man made a will
in 1790, bequeathing all his real estate to his wife, directing
that his gun be given to his nephew, Nicholas, and that his
slave, Pete, be sold, and the sum of twenty-five pounds out
of the proceeds be given to the Dutch Church. This church
was in Sleepy Hollow.
The children of the new and commodious schoolhouse
of brick where Lafayette Post has placed the flag, find it
hard to realize the conditions pertaining to education in the
days of their grandparents, when was built the little hut
standing and only recently abandoned. It was erected at
the foot of the graveyard, because the ground was too wet
and damp for burial purposes, but good enough for living
children. It was only seventeen by twenty-four feet in size,
and, of course, only one story high. Nobody thought of
more than one story for a schoolhouse in those days, and
WHERE JOHN ANDRE WAS CAPTURED 75
yet it was erected under a State law — the first general school
act passed under Governor Clinton's administration in
1790-91 — and the playground was but 25 x 50 feet in that
tract where farms rented for a few dollars a year. In
witness of this last fact another rent receipt of Philips is
shown, which is upon a printed form of clear, well-formed
type. It is a curiosity, because it is in type and shows that
the land-lord must have been a man of great wealth to
indulge in such a piece of extravagance.
"Received this, 22th day of December, 1767, from Dirck Van
Tassel, one of the Tenants on the Manor of Philipsburgh, the Sum
of six pounds, two shillings, sixpence for one Year's Rent, due the
Day and Date above; by me. Fred Philips."
An Odd Schoolmaster.
It appears that schoolteachers were not very well quali-
fied even as recently as seventy-five years ago, though they
were apparently shrewd enough to accumulate wealth. Hall's
Corners was named by one J. H. Hall, a teacher in the little
schoolhouse, afterward a wealthy land owner. A curious
document is one from the pen of this erudite pedagogue
who sent notices around by hand (not enveloped) written
upon strips of paper about two inches wide and fifteen long.
Here is one, addressed to Mr. John Romer, Greenburgh.
The spelling seems to be as original as the plan of raising
support for the school :
"Sir— The School bein' in want of wood I am under the neces-
sity of Sending this Billet to you for your Quota of money to by
Wood for Fuel it being by order of the Trustees and to the Sum
of one Shilling for Each and Every Such pupil Per piece and pleas
to Send the Money as soon as you Can and Oblige your Humble
Servant. J- H. Hall.
"Greenburgh District No. 6 November 22nd 1816."
It was customary, it seems, to procure this wood in long
trunks, which was delivered to the school in this form, and
the children had to cut it in lengths of about three feet
76 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
to be burned in the old box stoves, a system of physical cul-
ture no longer in vogue.
One feels like removing one's hat as he wanders through
the graveyard where rest the heroes who founded American
liberty. The congregation of the Presbyterian church — the
first church erected in the town — was organized in 1788 and
the church was built just 100 years ago. Isaac Van Wart,
one of the captors of Major Andre, whose monument is
the most conspicuous, was an elder of the church. Be-
side the grave of Van Wart is that of Solomon Utter (the
grandfather of Dr. Francis Utter of Lafayette Post), who
built the gallows upon which Andre was hung.
Another patriot, Abraham Martling, lies under a tomb-
stone bearing an inscription telling of the expedition he led
in 1777 from Wolfert's Roost down to New York, when
he burned Governor Delancey's house, on Bloomingdale
road, in retaliation for the burning by the British of the
house of his friend and neighbor, Lieutenant Van Tassel.
He was at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Captain John Romer's grave is there, too. He died in
1855, and many yet living have heard him tell of how he felt
as a boy when, amid the excitement of the presence of a
British prisoner in his mother's house, he was obliged to go
a long way up the road to fetch the pewter basin needed for
breakfast, the prisoner being one John Andre, captured with
Benedict Arnold's papers in his pocket by three sturdy yeo-
men that morning.
But of all the odd epitaphs to be seen, the oddest is one in
the Sleepy Hollow churchyard, on the tombstone of Capt.
John Buckhout, who died at the close of the Revolution, 103
years old. The inscription says that he left behind him 240
children and grandchildren. — New York Mail and Express,
October 12, 1895.
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A VISIT TO ELMSFORD.
By Sarah Comstock.
To be sure, the old Sawmill River Road, and the old Four
Corners of Westchester county, and the spot where the
British guide hid in the currant bushes, and all the rest of
the Elmsford traditions, might be there without Colonel
Hamilton. But it's hard to believe it. Colonel Hamilton is
so much a part of the place, its traditions live so in him, that
you feel as if they would melt away if he were not there to
hold them. When the great-grandson of Alexander Hamil-
ton and of Cornelius Van Tassel points with his cane and
says: "That's where the currant bushes stood!" you're
bound to see those currant bushes.
There are several ways to reach this nest of Revolutionary
lore. The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad
will carry you directly to Elmsford for half a dollar. You
can trolley the entire way, going to Mount Vernon and from
Mount Vernon to White Plains, then taking the Tarrytown
trolley and getting off at Elmsford. This is the inexpensive
route.
But for those of you who are brave enough to don the
broad-soled, low-heeled boot of the road, and to set out for
a good summer day's tramp, here's a suggestion that is
worth heeding.
77
78 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Start early and go directly to Yonkers, either by train or
by the Broadway subway. Starting out parallel with Nep-
perhan Avenue, north of the Yonkers Station, you will find
the old Sawmill River Road itself. From here it runs north,
pursuing the course of the stream for which it was named
long ago, in the days when the saw mills at Yonkers were
famed through all the country around.
Here your tramp begins. It is interesting to look at the
rapid stream and think of the wonderful changes it has
seen — from the days when a Mohican village stood at its
mouth, when the inhabitants of that village called it Nap-
pechemak, since corrupted into Nepperhan. Henry Hud-
son found this village; Dutch traders visited it in his wake,
and the Dutch West India Company made settlements here
as early as 1639. Van der Donck, a burgher of Manhattan,
acquired lands here; the town grew rapidly, and the busy
little Nepperhan was put into harness and made to run a
sawmill. Other mills followed, and the stream found this
world a very toilsome place. Bulky buildings now hem it
in, and it is not until you trace it into the open country fur-
ther north that you will find it as the Mohicans once knew
it, free and sparkling, open to the sun and winds of the sum-
mer world.
The distance from Yonkers to the old Four Corners is,
roughly, ten miles. If you are a good walker every step of
the way will repay you.
As you tramp on to the north you can remember that the
roads thereabouts were all much used during that part of the
Revolution which was enacted in Westchester county. Wash-
ington and his officers knew them well, and there are care-
fully preserved maps which were used to trace them for
military manoeuvres of that period.
Ardsley is reached ; between this and Elmsford stands the
historic house known as Rochambeau's headquarters, now
the Odell House. At last you enter quiet little Elmsford,
whose interests center so largely in the past — and it was
A VISIT TO ELMSFORD 79
in his own home there that we found Colonel John C. L.
Hamilton.
A Civil War veteran himself, his great-grandfathers on
two sides were well known to Revolutionary fame. His
house is a treasure-trove of war records, portraits, rare old
furniture, and ornaments. The andirons brought from the
old Dutch home of the Van Tassels adorn his fireplace, and
the pewter basin which has figured in many tales of the cap-
ture of Andre stands on his mantel. Some say the young
British officer ate his bread and milk from it on the day of
his capture ; Colonel Hamilton's opinion, however, is that he
had little appetite for bread and milk.
Here, but a few miles from Sleepy Hollow, from the
bridge where the Headless Horseman rode, from the old mill
of Irving lore, from the graves of the Van Tassels, his fore-
bears, this genial veteran lives in the atmosphere of the his-
tory that he loves. It's a lucky traveler who wins his inter-
est and hears the stories of the old town as he tells them.
"You see, it was in the old house that used to stand down
the road below here that my great-grandfather, Cornelius
Van Tassel, lived when he was captured by the British and
taken to New York to the old sugar house prison," he
told us. We were all out on the sunny veranda at the rear
of the house, and as the Colonel began, the family cat drew
up and solemnly seated herself, apparently to listen to a
favorite tale. "The British and Tories had been making
plenty of trouble hereabout, and it struck their fancy to burn
my great-grandfather's dwelling, which was a very good one
for that period. But although that building perished there
was soon a new one to replace it on the same site, and you'll
find the second, now ancient enough, standing there today."
If you will stroll down there you will see the house in
good preservation, an excellent example of the old architec-
ture of the Sleepy Hollow School.
After the original house had been burned and Van Tassel
carried off prisoner, his wife hid in an earth cellar. It was a
80
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
few nights after the disaster that she heard the sound of
hoofs and thought the British were coming again. But sud-
denly she recognized a familiar whinny, and peered out to
see silhouetted in the moonlight, her pet horse, which had
been driven off by the enemy and was now returning to his
beloved home. It is said that she ran out from the cellar,
threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him. We can
realize that the comradeship of a companion like this must
have been a great comfort in her loneliness ; for eleven
months and eleven days Van Tassell remained a prisoner.
"When you cross the little bridge where the river inter-
sects the main street you can think of it as the spot where
old Storm's Bridge used to stand," the Colonel told us
"The old one gave out, but this was built in exactly the same
place."
And then he went on to tell us abont old Storm's Bridge.
Washington, coming down the Sawmill road with Rocham-
beau was met at this bridge by his chief <l™«™«.
"You cannot go further," was the message which hal ed
him "The British are campmg just below. This was a
Uprise to the chief, who had laid plans that d,d not at all
h7m"niZe with a British camp in the ^ neighbor ood an
thereupon he and Rochambeau rode on to the Feathers'on*
House" to hold conference. This house was much used by
Wash ngton when in this neighborhood, and you car , v.s t
iTtoday and see it just as it was in the seventeen hundreds
Up the main street a block or so you will find a road lead-
ing off opposite the Catholic Church. A short waft toward
he southeast on this road brings you to the budding^ It
s Inown as the Featherstone House to all the dweUers ^here-
about, and by this, its modern name, ,s easdy located.
The present owner met us and showed us about cordially.
We admired the preservation of the building.
A VISIT TO ELMSFORD 81
"Well, I'm sorry we haven't rebuilt it," he responded
apologetically. "We did want to run up a mansard, and
make a new porch, and change the old place and bring it
up to date, but we haven't got around to it yet."
We implored that he might never "get around to it." The
joy of finding any Revolutionary building intact, roof, win-
dows, doors, and all, is nothing less than a solemn joy. It
may be unkind to wish Mr. Featherstone a lack of pros-
perity, but if riches would sprout a mansard and a new
porch on that delightful little weather-beaten dwelling, who
can wish him the riches ?
"Is the well very old ?" we asked him.
"You can't call it new," he replied, "since Jacob Iselin, the
one that used to come over this way from New Rochelle—
he's dead, you know — said he'd ridden by this place for fifty
years and he's never passed without stoppin' for a drink
from it."
Perhaps Washington and Rochambeau drank from it —
who knows ?
"You can't see the currant bushes today, but you can see
where they sto>od when Jim Husted hid in them," Colonel
Hamilton had told us with a chuckle. "That was in 1777.
Our men had been having a little skirmish with the British
near here, and we had done for them — took Barrymore and
all his men, or so the Americans thought. It wasn't till after-
ward that it was discovered that Jim Husted, the British
guide, had escaped, and had saved himself by hiding in the
currant bushes of what is now the Featherstone House."
Now to go back to the conference of Washington and
Rochambeau in that house.
"After they had talked matters over," Colonel Hamilton
told us, "they decided that the French had better not proceed
as they had been ordered to do, so Washington ordered the
quartermaster to ride back to Storm's Bridge and stop them,
and order them to camp here over night. But when the offi-
82 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
cer got back to this place he found that they had gone on
up the road — maybe they hadn't understood the command
in English — and they had marched on in such heat as they'd
never seen before, and four hundred of them were over-
come. So they were taken on to the French hospital, and
if you go on to White Plains you can see that building to-
day, at the second passing of the trolley cars, a bit to the
south of the track."
Directly on the main street we found the Ledger House
that the Colonel had told us about. "It's a good deal
changed since the days when Abraham Storm built it," he
had said. "Storm himself wouldn't know it now. He was a
captain and a mighty active man from the beginning of the
war. He put up that house, but the British set fire to it,
and only a part of the building was saved. What was
saved is still standing, though, and you're looking at it when
you look at that hotel."
This was the Storm for whom the bridge was named.
We turned south near the railroad, and a minute's walk
brought us to the old church facing close upon the road.
Next to it stands the pastor's house. The very charming
young lady who resides there was good enough to take out
a marvelous key and show us into the church. This key
is the original one, and it creaks in its huge old lock with a
rheumatic sound.
In 1788 the church is supposed to have been built, al-
though the loss of its records leaves a cloud hanging about
its earliest history. Within and without it is typical of the
severity of that period. American settlers built their houses
of worship for worship alone then, having no money for
display. The old-time gallery is there and the bare walls
without adornment of magnificent windows or tablets. The
church-going of the seventeen hundreds was severe as well
as the preaching. The Rev. Thomas Smith traveled all the
way from Sleepy Hollow to hold regular services here and
A VISIT TO ELMSFORD 83
the farmers flocked to pray. Thus this parish was linked
with the famous Dutch church which calls up all the Irving
tradition by its mere name.
Many an old record may he read on the crumbling stones.
Here are seen such familiar names as "Van Tassel,"
"Romer," and "Van Wart." Among the newer stones is a
monument erected to the memory of Isaac Van Wart by
the County of Westchester. The inscription reminds you
that in September, 1780, "Isaac Van Wart, accompanied by
John Paulding and David Williams, all farmers in the
county, intercepted Major Andre on his return from the
American lines in the character of a spy, and, notwith-
standing the large bribes offered them for his release, nobly
disdaining to sacrifice their country for gold, secured and
carried him to the commander of the district, whereby the
dangerous and traitorous conspiracy of Arnold was brought
to light, the insidious designs of the enemy baffled, the
American army saved, and our beloved country now free
and independent, rescued from most imminent peril."
Here, then, sleeps the captor of Andre, honored by his
countrymen, while across the river stands a monument
which generously honors the spy himself, erected by the
same people who captured and hanged him. It is a signifi-
cant fact, in token of "those better feelings which have since
united the two nations."
Fenced in with Van Wart's fine monument is a quaint
little slab snuggling at its base. Here, beside her husband,
lies Rachel Storm Van Wart.
Greenburgh and Hall's Corners are the names by which
the modern Elmsford was known in earlier years. On
one of the old maps the spot appears to be indicated by
the mark "Tavern," and a mile or two to the north we find
another "Tavern." The latter was probably at the Four
Corners, the place where there were warlike noises in 1776
and thereafter for some years.
84 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
The Four Corners lay on the road that led from Sleepy
Hollow to what is now North White Plains, at the point
where this road intersected the Sawmill Road. At present
there is not a landmark left on the place except an old school
house on the site where Paulding went to school in the
original building. The Paulding farm adjoined it.
But a century and more ago ! It was a different spot then.
At the Four Corners stood the home of Joseph Youngs, and
the American troops found this dwelling a most convenient
place to make headquarters Accordingly they came there
and remained there, the commanders living in the house,
and the soldiers occupying the many outbuildings as bar-
racks. Military stores and provisions were hoarded there.
From August of '76 to February of '80 the Americans
were quartered here much of the time, and many were the
skirmishes in and about the old Four Corners. At one
time Capt. Williams of the American army, with his forty
men, was attacked by British refugees. The Captain, a
party of soldiers, and Joseph Youngs himself, were taken
prisoners. For a year poor Youngs was confined in New
York city, while his barn up at Four Corners was burned
by the British, and a large stock of cattle stolen. Later
a petition of Martha, Samuel, and Thomas Youngs,
recorded the fact that in February, 1780, there was an
attack on the post by 1,000 British trOops and refugees, and
"all the clothing, bedding, and furniture of said Joseph
Youngs destroyed at that inclement season of the year."
But of all the delightful legends with which this region
abounds none is so delightful as that of Cooper and his
"Westchester Spy." Here the tale was laid, the site of the
hamlet of the Four Corners was the stage of that drama.
According to Bolton, a little west of the Van Wart resi-
dence stood the "Hotel Flanagan, a place of refuge for man
and beast." The sign "Elizabeth Flanagan, her Hotel,"
hung before it. Betty Flanagan lived after her soldier
A VISIT TO ELMSFORD 85
husband had fallen for his country, by driving a cart to
various military encampments. At this time the Virginia
Cavalry happened to be making the Four Corners their head-
quarters, so Betty had brought her cart hither, and here,
Bolton tells us, she was stationed when the lawless Skinners
dragged in the pedlar spy.
But the most interesting item recorded in the history of
Betty is that "she is said to have invented the well-known
beverage vulgarly called 'cocktail.'" If this be true, no
wonder Elizabeth Flanagan and her hotel live in history.
— New York Times, July 19, 1914.
A BIT OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND.
By B. H. Dean.
"Heh, boy !" I cried, from my perch on a pile of railroad
ties ; "Hey, there ! Where's 'Gallows Elm' ?"
The country stillness was so intense that the call carried
well, and the youthful fisherman, bare- footed and in pic-
turesque attire, reluctantly pulled his line from the little
river and ran toward me.
"What's that," he called, "Wh'd you say?"
"Gallows Elm," I replied — "don't you know about the
wonderful old elm ?" and then, because he was lost in bewil-
derment, I added — "You see, boy, I've found the old church
and the monument, but now I'm after that particular old elm
tree that has such a reputation — and aren't there any other
historic old places around here?"
The boy straightened himself and looked me squarely in
the eyes : "No," he said, "we hain't got none now — but we're
goin' to build some."
"Good for you and for your principles, old man," I an-
swered, but, as I 'viewed the landscape o'er,' a fervent hope
entered my heart that the demon of progress would never
get started on this quiet, sleepy old place.
Just a tiny hamlet set down in the green valley ; the shin-
ing track of the railroad crossed by the trolley line, that fol-
lowed the highway, over the hills forming a center about
86
A BIT OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND 87
which clustered a few modest homes, the general store, the
hotel, the postoffice, and the picturesque little station. Very
peaceful and remote from the city it seemed; a place in
which to rest and let thoughts wander on pleasant themes.
Even a team of oxen in a nearby meadow took life with
placid unconcern, lazily following their master's lead, and
pulling the harrow through the soft mold.
Such is Elmsford now, but places sometimes resemble
people, in that the quiet ones have known a turbulent past.
Before the morning was over I found a man who had
been born and raised in the Nepperhan Valley and who,
moreover, was a great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton.
As I sat on the doorstep of his home and heard him talk,
there came insistently to mind portions of Spartacus' speech
to the gladiators: "An old man was telling of Marathon
and Leuctra and how, in ancient times, a little band of
Spartans, in a defile of the mountains, had withstood a whole
army," for round about these parts the great spirit of the
Revolution flourished in mighty strength.
"Gallows Elm," he said, "that's all nonsense ! You see, a
good many years ago this vicinity was called Greenburg,
but one day our neighbors to the south decided to have a
little town of their own and they called it Ashford, although
there wasn't an ash tree in the place. Well, three or four of
us prominent citizens were talking it over up at the corner
grocery, and we made up our minds we would be known as
"Elmsford," in honor of the great tree that stood at the
crossroads. The elm was big and strong then, with wide-
spreading branches, but the lightning found it a year or two
ago, and I suppose it is bound to go the way of all things
earthly.
"There is no Ashford now, though, for after Cyrus W.
Field, of ocean cable fame, established his country seat
there, and named it 'Ardsley Court,' the town was rechrist-
ened 'Ardsley' in compliment to him."
88 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
He told me about the little old church, whose earliest
records have gone astray, but which dates back apparently
to 1788; how he could remember attending service there
when they had but one hymnal, and then, after a while, a
very wealthy man came from over the sea and, becoming a
member of the congregation, helped them financially, and
also placed two extra books in his pew.
We went into the little parlor where the air was heavy
with the odor of lilacs, and there were many books and
pictures, and strange old documents framed for security;
and he showed me parts of a Revolutionary uniform which
had belonged to his grandfather; the old flintlock musket,
heavy to raise to the shoulder, and the wooden canteen,
clumsy and dust-covered, but eloquent of other days. And
there was an old pewter basin, somewhat battered and time-
worn, but a highly prized relic, for it was in this that the
captors of Major Andre had carried their lunch that fateful
day which, luckily for us Americans, terminated as it did.
I touched the dish reverently, for with me tangible things
have a great significance. When I stood in the little church-
yard reading the inscription on the monument erected in
honor of Isaac Van Wart, one of the men who would not
barter country for gold, it had all seemed very distant, but
this common household article added the realism which had
been lacking.
And as I was about to leave he invited me into the garden,
beautiful with blossoming plants and fragrant with the
"minty" perfume peculiar to the country. One great bush
of bridal-wreath, in its luxuriance, reached out over the
grassy walk until its soft blossoms brushed against my face,
and a few misty flowers fluttered over the lawn and were
caught by the heavier breeze and carried down the road and
far away.
And my host pointed to two companion trees, standing in
an open space, on a distant hilltop ; one dark like an ever-
green, and the other fresh like a young maple. "Sentinel
A BIT OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND 89
Rock is yonder," he said, "the rendezvous of the soldiers,
and from it could be had a view of the camps of Washington
and Rochambeau. It was up there young Van Tassel went
that bleak night in November, when the British burned his
father's house, and he escaped by strategy, covering himself
with a blanket and carrying out a piece of furniture along-
side of the marauders. You'll find the old house down the
road about a mile. It's been rebuilt and someone is living
there."
From small beginnings there sometimes come such large
returns. I started out that morning to find a tree, attracted
by its fanciful name. I found instead a pastoral region
peopled in imagination by such an army of ghosts that the
days of '76 were as yesterday ; and to my mind was brought
more forcibly the meaning of the Revolution, and an ap-
preciation of the fearful odds against which those men, our
forefathers, wrought. In and about the Neutral Ground
stalks many a battle-scarred wraith, but the unseeing, care-
less eye passes them by, catching only at meaningless baubles
that glitter in the sunlight. — New York Central Lines, Four
Track News, November, 1904.
HEROES OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND.
By John P. Ritter.
The valley of the Neperan, or Sawmill river, in West-
chester county, N. Y., is situated in the very heart of the
Neutral Ground of the Revolution — that debatable territory
lying between the rival armies, when the British were in pos-
session of Manhattan Island and the Americans occupied
the Highlands of the Hudson.
A railroad winds through it now, and it is fast losing the
pastoral charm for which it was once famous. Fields that
formerly waved with grain are dotted with cheap wooden
villages ; pastures where sleek cattle browsed are intersected
with prospective streets, and steam factories occupy the old
mill sites where creaking water-wheels once lazily turned.
Landmarks invested with historic and traditionary interest
are rapidly disappearing ; everywhere the romantic is being
crowded out by the commonplace.
The most interesting part of the valley lies between Wood-
lands and the Pocantico Hills ; here resided, during the Revo-
lution, a band of obscure heroes, whose patriotic devotion
and daring exploits have never been worthily recorded. After
the retreat of Washington and his army from White Plains,
the Neutral Ground "became infested by roving bands,
claiming either side, British or American, and all pretend-
ing to redress wrongs and punish political offenses; but all
90
HEROES OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND 91
prone, in the exercise of their high functions, to sack hen-
roosts, drive off cattle, and lay farmhouses under contri-
bution."
"Such," says Irving, in his chronicle of Wolfert's Roost,
"was the origin of two great orders of border chivalry, the
Skinners and the Cow Boys, famous in Revolutionary story ;
the former fought, or rather marauded, under the American,
the latter under the British, banner. In the zeal of service
both were apt to make blunders, and confound the property
of friend and foe. Neither of them, in the heat and hurry of
a foray, had time to ascertain the politics of a horse or cow
which they were driving off into captivity; nor, when they
wrung the neck of a rooster, did they trouble their heads
whether he crowed for Congress or King George. To
check these enormities a confederacy was formed among
the yeomanry who had suffered from these maraudings. It
was composed for the most part of farmers' sons, bold,
hard-riding lads, well armed and well mounted, and under-
took to clear the country round of Skinner and Cow Boy,
and all other border vermin ; as the Holy Brotherhood in old
times cleared Spain of the banditti which infested her high-
ways."
Several companies were organized, each having a specified
district to protect. The first company was stationed at
Yonkers, so near the British outposts that it did but little
effective service ; the second had its headquarters farther
north, in what is now the village of Elmsford ; while a few
miles north of the second was stationed the third company,
guarding the Upper Crossroads. Together they formed
the Southern Battalion of Westchester Militiamen, com-
manded by Colonel Joseph Drake.
Among those who enlisted in the second company were
Cornelius and Peter Van Tassel, Hendrick Romer, Abraham
Martling, Jacob Acker, Peter Bout, Solomon Utter, Nich-
olas Boncker and Jacob and Abraham Boyce ; and in the
third company Jacob Romer and his five sons, John and
92 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Gibbert Dean, Isaac See and John Yerks — all uncompromis-
ing patriots, who remained faithful to their country in the
face of many hardships, and performed prodigies of valor
which render them as deserving of a place in history as are
their more fortunate comrades-in-arms, Paulding, Williams
and Van Wart, the immortal captors of Major John Andre.
For these humble heroes were obliged to wage continuous
warfare with the enemy, and to keep ever on the alert to
defend themselves and neighbors against the frequent in-
vasions of pillaging Cow Boys and Hessian troopers.
The brunt of the unequal strife was borne by the second
or middle company, of which Abraham Storms was the
captain, and Cornelius Van Tassel and Abraham Martling
the lieutenants. Its headquarters were in Van Tassel's
farmhouse, on the old Sawmill River road, one mile
south of Elmsford. Indeed, Elmsford and its vicinity are
covered over with relics and landmarks of the Revolution ;
every stick and stone is associated with some thrilling inci-
dent of the past. The present village stands on a plain
which, in those eventful times, was occupied by the farms
of several members of the second company. Peter Van
Tassel, Jacob Acker, Abraham Martling, Jacob Boyce, Solo-
mon Utter and Hendrick Romer lived in the valley, or on
the sloping hillsides which enclosed it, and Captain Storm
himself ran a tavern in the settlement. The farmhouse of
Cornelius Van Tassel is situated at the southern extremity
of this plain ; and here the highway leading to New York
turns westward, and then southward again, to pass through
a wooded ravine, where the hills on both sides of the Nep-
eran approach each other shutting out a view of the country
below. This conformation of the land rendered the yeo-
manry of the district peculiarly liable to surprise by forag-
ing parties of the enemy, who, concealed by the ravine,
could approach to the very confines of the plain before their
presence was discovered.
HEROES OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND 93
In order to provide against such a contingency, the patri-
ots selected a rocky fastness on Beaver Mountain, west of
the settlement, for a hiding place, to which they could resort
for safety whenever the British came up the valley in too
great force to be successfully resisted, and established a
signal station on a hill opposite. Their watch tower was an
enormous boulder, which is still known by its Revolutionary
name, "Sentinel Rock," from the summit of which the road
running southward through the valley can be seen for miles.
Whenever a detachment of Delancey's Rangers, or a troop
of Hessian cavalry, were descried advancing by the sentinel
on watch, he gave the signal for his neighbors to collect their
valuables and make for their stronghold by blowing a loud
blast on a horn. Then the cattle were driven into the woods,
and the men, arming themselves with the flintlock muskets
of those days, escorted the women and children to their
place of refuge on Beaver Mountain. Here, on a natural
platform of rock, the fugitives pitched their camp. The
inaccessibility of the place secured them from assault, and
they were partly protected from the weather by an over-
hanging precipice that towered above the platform on the
western side.
When the enemy arrived at the farmhouses, they found
them emptied of their valuables and deserted. In revenge
they devastated the fields and burned down the barns, after
securing all the provender they could carry away. Some-
times, however, they were not allowed to escape with their
booty. On one occasion, at least, the patriots surprised
them in their depredations, and drove them away with con-
siderable loss. In a field, formerly owned by Cornelius Van
Tassel, where an old apple-tree once stood, lie the remains of
a Hessian trooper and five other marauders, who were killed
in that skirmish.
During one of the inroads of the British up the valley,
Christina Romer, the wife of Hendrick Romer, the militia-
man, acted the part of a heroine. Their farmhouse was situ-
94 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
a ted at the foot of Beaver Mountain, and was separated
from the forest that covered the slope by a stone wall.
Christina had stayed behind the other fugitives — who had
fled to the hiding place on hearing the first signal of the horn
from "Sentinel Rock" — and was surprised by the enemy
before she could make good her escape. They immediately
pressed her into service to bake bread and roast the ribs of
an ox they had secured in their foray, in the big Dutch oven
in the chimney of her kitchen. While performing this task
it occurred to her that her neighbors in hiding on Beaver
Mountain were more in need of food than her enemies.
So she set apart a goodly portion of the bread and beef
with the idea of supplying their wants at the first opportun-
ity. In the meantime she waited upon the British troopers
with a cheerfulness and alacrity artfully calculated to disarm
them of suspicion. When they were resting after the meal,
and she was supposed to be washing dishes in the kitchen,
she quietly slipped out of the back door, crossed the yard
to the stone wall, and deposited the provisions she had saved
on the side next the forest. She knew very well that the
house was being closely watched by her friends on the moun-
tain, and that her movements would probably be seen by
one of their scouts. This proved to be the case ; for, she had
barely regained the kitchen, when Hendrick Romer, who
had been watching nearby to see that no harm befell his
wife, secured the food and conveyed it to the fugitives. The
British lodged in the farmhouse several days, and each day
Christina managed to supply her friends with food from
their larder. Had it not been for her thoughtfulness and
courage they must have perished from hunger, as they were
wholly without provisions to undergo so long a siege. The
ruins of the Romer farmhouse and the stone wall behind
which the militiaman'9 wife secreted the bread and meat are
pointed out to strangers by the descendants of this patriotic
woman, who still reside in the neighborhood.
On the night of November 17, 1777, a large band of Brit-
HEROES OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND 95
ish troopers and Cow Boys, commanded by the notorious
Captain Emmerick, made an excursion up the Sawmill
Valley, and completely surprised the little settlement. After
setting fire to the tavern of Captain Abraham Storm, they
surrounded the houses of Cornelius and Peter Van Tassel,
Which stood on adjoining farms, and called upon the in-
mates to come out and surrender themselves. Instead of
complying, the gallant brothers discharged their muskets at
their besiegers, and made a strong show of resistance. This
so enraged the British that they set fire to both houses and
burned them to the ground. Driven out by the flames, the
brave yeomen, who had defended their homes single-handed
against a host of enemies, were forced to deliver themselves
up. The inhuman Captain Emmerick allowed their wives
and children to be stripped of the necessary apparel to cover
them from the severity of a bitterly cold night, and led the
captive brothers in triumph to New York. Tied to their
horses' tails, they were compelled to drive their own cattle
into the camp of the enemy. The wife of Cornelius Van
Tassel sought refuge in an old dirt cellar in the farmyard,
carrying her infant daughter in her arms. Here they were
discovered, half-clad and shivering with the cold, by a Hes-
sian trooper, who, touched by their pitiable condition, threw
them a feather mattress that he had taken from the burning
house — an act of mercy which undoubtedly saved their lives,
as they remained in the dirt cellar until the following night,
with no other covering than the mattress to shield them
from the rigor of the weather. Then, shortly after dark,
Mrs. Van Tassel heard the neighing of a horse in the farm-
yard. It proved to be one of the animals that had been
driven off by the enemy the night before and that had evi-
dently escaped from its new quarters below to return to its
old home. The faithful creature carried the mother and
child to friends living near the Upper Cross Roads.
No account of the surprise and capture of the Van Tassel
brothers would be complete without a description of the
96 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
daring bravery displayed by the son of Cornelius Van Tassel
upon that occasion. When the British surrounded his father's
house, and demanded the surrender of the inmates, Cor-
nelius Van Tassel, Jr., was asleep in his room in the attic.
His slumbers were rudely broken by the discharge of his
father's musket, and, taking his own weapon from its hook
on the wall, he engaged actively in the defense of their
home. Even When the house was in flames, and the rest of
the family had been driven out by fire and smoke, it never
occurred to him to surrender; but, crouching behind the
kitchen door, he awaited an opportunity to escape from the
burning building to the refuge on Beaver Mountain. The
British troopers were standing outside in groups, gazing
with diabolical satisfaction at the conflagration they had
caused, when suddenly out of the flames sprang a bare-
headed youth wielding a clubbed musket in both hands.
Before they could recover from their astonishment, he had
felled two of them to the ground and was off across the
fields to the Sawmill River. He plunged into the icy
current and gained the other side amid a shower of bullets.
Then, halting just long enough to send a parting shot at the
troopers who pursued him, he resumed his flight and soon
reached a place of safety. The Van Tassel brothers were
confined for nearly a year in the Provost Gaol, New York,
as prisoners of war, and, when finally exchanged, found
their families reduced to a condition of pauperism.
On learning of the disaster that had befallen his friends,
Abraham Martling, locally known as "Brom Marlin," medi-
tated and planned a signal stroke of vengeance which, for
boldness of conception and vigor of execution, was worthy
of one of Homer's heroes. Taking into his confidence
Jacob Acker, Nicholas Boncker, Jacob Boyce and several
other militiamen of equal courage, he repaired to the station
of the Water Guard at Wolfert's Roost, on the Hudson, and
there concocted a midnight invasion of New York island
to pillage and burn the splendid mansion of the Tory chief,
HEROES OP THE NEUTRAL GROUND 97
Oliver Delancey, situated on the heights of Bloomingdale,
in the very heart of the British camp. The Water Guard
was an "aquatic corps, in the pay of government, organized
to range the waters of the Hudson and keep watch upon the
movements of the enemy's fleet. It was composed of nau-
tical men of the river and hardy youngsters of the adjacent
country, expert at pulling an oar and handling a musket."
The captain of the Wolfert's Roost station was Jacob Van
Tassel, a relative of the captive brothers — a valiant Dutch-
man, whose many brave deeds have been immortalized by
Irving in his chronicle of the Roost.
At this station Martling secured two light whale-boats,
manned by expert river-men, and, early in the evening of
November 25th, 1777, embarked, with a band of chosen
heroes, on his perilous enterprise. It was a second expedi-
tion of the Argonauts, with Martling for its Jason, and glory
for its golden fleece. The two whaleboats, shaped like
canoes and formed to skim lightly over the water, were
rowed with great rapidity down the river until the territory
of the enemy's Water Guard was reached ; then the oars
were muffled, and, pulling noiselessly along under shadow
of the land, the boats glided like spectres past hostile frigates
and guardships to their destination. There Martling and his
.band disembarked, and, scaling the rugged heights of Bloom-
ingdale, surprised the patrol at Delancey's Mansion, pillaged
,and burned the great house, and, before the enemy could
.recover from their amazement, made good their retreat to
the boats. As the whole river was now illuminated by the
conflagration, their escape seemed impossible ; yet, not-
withstanding that the enemy's fleet were warned of their
presence by alarm guns on the shore, so gallantly did Van
Tassel's river-men bend to their oars, that, favored by their
knowledge of every sheltering cove and protecting promon-
tory, they eluded the guns of the foe and reached home in
safety.
98 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
The chief glory of this daring exploit rests with Abra-
ham Martling, its projector. A more ardent patriot never
lived. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War he en-
listed in the Continental Army, and saw considerable service
in the principal campaigns. He was in the memorable
Battle of Yorktown and, after the close of the war, retired
to his little farm at Elmsford, where he died January 1st,
1841, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. While pass-
ing through the Neutral Ground, recently, to collect mate-
rial for this article, I visited Martling's grave, in the little
cemetery of the Reformed Church, at Elmsford, and was
grieved to find it sadly neglected. The modest gravestone
is cracked and broken, and the mound covering the remains
of the old hero overgrown with rank grass and brambles.
The graves of several other Revolutionary soldiers in this
cemetery are in a similar condition, notably that of Solo-
mon Utter, the carpenter-soldier, who made the gallows on
which Major Andre was hanged. His tombstone lies in two
pieces on the ground, and there is no mound to indicate
his last resting-place. Even the granite shaft erected over
the remains of Isaac Van Wart, one of Andre's captors, by
the citizens of Westchester county, is greatly in need of
repair.
There is one grave in the cemetery, however, which is
cared for with tender solicitude. It is that of John Romer,
a militiaman of the Revolution, and a captain in the War
of 1812, who died in 1855, age of ninety-two, in the house
which he and his father-in-law, Cornelius Van Tassel, had
erected on the foundations of the building burned by Captain
Emmerick in his raid up the Sawmill Valley. Captain John
Romer's daughter Angeline, married William Hamilton, a
grandson of Alexander Hamilton. There were two chil-
dren of this marriage: one, Rev. Edgar A. Hamilton,
now (1917) of Sussex, N. J., and the other, Colonel J. C. L.
Hamilton, who gained his commission in the Civil War, and
now lives in retirement at Elmsford, within a stone's-throw
HEROES OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND 99
of the old burying-ground, to whose veneration it is due that
the veteran's grave is kept in order.
I succeeded in persuading Colonel Hamilton to accom-
pany me through the historic region I am describing, and I
could not have found a better guide. Brought up in this
locality, and descended from the Van Tassels and Romers,
he lives in the history and traditions of the past. He is
familiar with every foot of the Neutral Ground, and is in
possession of a fund of information concerning Revolution-
ary events and characters, obtained direct from the lips of
persons who lived in those stirring times. He told me that
his grandfather, Captain John Romer, was one of the band
that escorted Major Andre to Colonel Jameson's headquar-
ters at North Castle, on the day of his capture. John Romer
was a lad of seventeen at the time ; and whenever he related
the circumstances attending the apprehension of the spy,
in later life, it was always with an expression of regret that
John Yerks, the militiaman who planned the expedition
which resulted so fortunately, should not have received
equal recognition with Paulding, Williams and Van Wart.
On the day preceding Andre's capture, Yerks proposed to
Paulding — both of them being at that time stationed in
North Salem — that they should organize a party to gio to
the vicinity of Tarrytown to prevent cattle being driven
down toward New York, and to seize as a loyal prize any
such cows or oxen as might be destined for His Majesty's
troops by their friends. Paulding at first objected ; but,
upon further consideration, volunteered his services, pro-
vided they could induce a sufficient number to accompany
them. Yerks assured him that this could be easily ac-
complished, and offered to procure the men, while Paulding
should obtain the necessary permit from the commanding
officer. While the latter was absent on this errand, Yerks
enlisted three volunteers — Isaac See, James Romer, a
brother of John Romer, and Abraham Williams. Paulding
soon afterward returned with the permit, accompanied by
100 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
his friend, Isaac Van Wart. The party, now consisting of
six, took the direct road for Cross River, where they were
joined by David Williams, from Bedford.
They passed the night in a hay-barrack, near the present
Methodist Church at Pleasantville, and early the next morn-
ing followed the windings of the Sawmill Valley to the
house of Captain Jacob Romer, the father of one of their
band, where they obtained breakfast, and a basin well pro-
vided for their dinner. From this place they marched to the
hill immediately above Tarrytown, where it was agreed that
Paulding, Van Wart and David Williams should guard the
road below, while the remaining four should watch the one
above, with the full understanding — according to the story
told John Romer by his brother James, and John Yerks —
that whatever might be taken should be equally divided
among the whole band. The upper party were stationed
two hundred yards east on the hill above the lower party ;
yet this small separation lof six hundred feet proved in the
sequel to constitute all the vast difference between immortal-
ity and obscurity. The names of Paulding, Williams and
Van Wart are emblazoned on the pages of history, while
those of their equally deserving, but less fortunate, com-
rades are known to but few.
Immediately after the capture of Andre the lower party
joined the upper, and all proceeded again to the house of
Captain Jacob Romer, where they partook of refreshments.
Colonel Hamilton showed me the pewter basin from which
they ate. It was bequeathed to him by his grandfather,
who was present on the occasion, and afterward accom-
panied the party to North Castle. He also showed me the
military equipment of a Continental soldier which was worn
at one time by John Romer. Upon the delivery of their
prisoner at Colonel Jameson's headquarters, the seven
patriots separated, little imagining the importance of their
prize. That Congress should afterward have recognized
but three of them — granting them medals and pensions —
HEROES OP THE NEUTRAL GROUND 101
without taking any notice of the other four, seems, in view
of the circumstances above narrated, to have been an act
of injustice. The house in which Major Andre is said to
have slept on the night prior to his apprehension is carefully
preserved on the estate of John D. Rockefeller, a little north
of the city of Tarrytown. — Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly,
July, 1897.
HOW $150 WILL SAVE PATRIOTS' GRAVES.
Historic Greenburgh Churchyard, in Westchester, Needs
Only That Much to Cover a Health Tax— Noted
Revolutionary Fighters Who Lie Under
Its Old Stones.
All good Revolutionary soldiers would turn in their graves
if they knew the fate that may fall to their companions-
in-arms who are buried in the cemetery of the old Green-
burgh Reformed Church, at Elmsford, Westchester county.
For a tax of $150 has been levied on the church property as
its share of the burden in a large drainage scheme, and the
church is too poor to pay that amount, and unless it does
pay, the county will sell the property. Then the "final rest-
ing place" of a score of Revolutionary heroes might be the
final resting place no more.
Elmsford has a railroad station of its own, where the
Putnam Division of the New York Central crosses the
trolley line from White Plains to Tarrytown. It has also a
postofnce, a few stores, a saloon, and at least one garage.
But just at present the chief center of interest is the grave-
yard by the old church.
There is nothing especially romantic about the setting of
this little graveyard today. The dust from hundreds of
automobiles, returning cityward after vacations, sifts around
its tombstones.
102
HOW $150 WILL SAVE PATRIOTS' GRAVES 103
But men like Colonel Hamilton, a patriarch of the town
and a great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, forget railroad
tracks and dust, saLoons, and automobiles, and remember
the cemetery as it used to be. It was within a hundred yards,
they recall, that one of the battles of the Revolutionary War
was fought. It was across the line of those very tracks that
Cornelius Van Tassel, Jr., fled, dodging the shots of the
English, who were burning his father's house. It was down
that road all the way to the Hall of Records, in Manhattan,
that old Van Tassel himself, his hands tied to his horse's
tail, had to drive his cattle.
Colonel Hamilton, who fought through the Civil War — two
years in the Fifth New York Regiment, "Duryea's Zouaves,"
and three years in the light artillery — has followed the for-
tunes of the church for more than half a century. In 1855
he planted on the church property four spruces, one of
which still stands over the grave of his grandfather, John
Romer, the son-in-law of Van Tassel. A quarter of a cen-
tury ago, when the church fell into bad repair, he kal-
somined the ceiling with his own hands. He gave a new
stove to replace the old box stoves, whose tin chimney, after
rambling around the church, supposedly distributing warmth
finally made an exit through a hole in the middle of the roof,
from which the soot dropped like mud on rainy days. This
spring, when the congregation had sunk to half a dozen
persons, he helped reorganize the church, and now, with his
son, he is busy upholstering the interior and patching up
the wall paper where it had fallen off. It is he who sent
out an appeal for the saving of the old cemetery.
When the Rev. Robert Bolton was writing his history of
Westchester County, he used to make regular visits to the
home of Colonel Hamilton's grandfather in Elmsford. There
three patriarchs would assemble to recount Westchester
history, as they had seen it. John Romer, the grandfather,
was ninety-one years old when he died ; Christina Romer
lived to be one hundred and four. The third member of the
104 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
trio was Peter See. Colonel Hamilton, then a boy, used
sometimes to sit on a stool at their feet, listening to their
tales, and thus he got an insight into that history which has
been his hobby ever since.
At the time of his grandfather's death, the colonel planted
the four spruce trees in the old burial ground to shelter the
graves of his ancestors. Three of the trees died or had to
be cut down. Only one now stands, with a venerable weep-
ing willow near by. Beneath are a score of graves, some
of the tombstones erect and some fallen, and many worn
till the dates are gone, and even the deeper cut names are
unrecognizable.
In the center of the plot a simple white obelisk marks the
grave of Captain Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of
Major Andre.
On the night be'fore the capture of Andre, seven militia-
men, of whom Van Wart was one, spent the night at the
house of Captain Jacob Romer, Colonel Hamilton's great-
grandfather, in East View. The next morning they split
into two parties, one of four and one of three. The story
of how the three men found the British soldier in civilian
clothes ; how, after receiving contradictory answers to their
questions, they searched him, and how they finally found in
his boots the proofs of his negotiations with Benedict Arnold
for the betrayal of West Point — all this is a matter of
history.
James Romer, a son of Jacob, was one of the seven, but
unfortunately went with the four and not the three. Be-
fore the seven left the house that morning they borrowed a
pack of cards, and the wife of Jacob Romer put up a lunch
for them. James carried it in a pewter basin. In the ex-
citement of the capture, the basin was left behind, but John
Romer, a lad of sixteen years, was sent back for it. It now
stands on Colonel Hamilton's mantelpiece.
His grave was not Van Wart's only connection with the
old Greenburgh Church. He was an elder, and for a
HOW $150 WILL SAVE PATRIOTS' GRAVES 105
time choirmaster. Hymn books were scarce in those days,
and Van Wart was one of the only two church members
who possessed such a thing. The other was the minister.
At the close of the Revolution Van Wart recruited a com-
pany of militia, with John Romer and William Hammond.
The three took the positions, respectively, of captain, lieu-
tenant, and ensign. When Van Wart resigned, the others
were promoted and took in Dennis Cronk, an ensign. Wil-
liam Hammond later rose to be a general. The graves of all
four lie within a man's length of each other, under the wil-
low tree in the little Elmsford cemetery. Dennis Cronk,
incidentally, was a near relative of Hiram Cronk, the last
survivor of the war of 1812.
In 1777 the English surrounded the house of Cornelius
Van Tassel — John Romer's father-in-law — and dragged the
family out into the cold winter air. His daughter they tied
and left on the frozen ground. They proceeded to pillage his
house, carrying out the furniture piece by piece. Cornelius's
son hid in the attic, but when he saw that they were about
to set fire to the house he tried a forlorn hope. Picking up
one of the few remaining pieces of furniture, he deliberately
carried it out of the house into the midst of the company of
British. As he had hoped, for a moment they took him for
one of their own number. Gradually edging away from the
main crowd, he finally made a dash for liberty across the
place where the railroad tracks now run down to the bank
of the Neperan, the old Sawmill River. The English gave
chase and fired at him, but he escaped.
Meanwhile, the house was burned to the ground. Van
Tassel was tied by his hands to his horse's tail, and made
to walk in that fashion to New York, driving his cattle be-
fore him. He was taken to the gaol where the Hall of
Records now stands and imprisoned for eleven months.
Across the tiny cemetery from the graves of all these men,
a broken white stone marks that of Solomon Utter, who
made the gallows from which Major Andre was hung. Why
106 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
a citizen of Elms ford should have got this task is part of lost
history, as the date on his tombstone will soon be, but the
fact is there recorded, and there is no reason to doubt it. At
the time of the trial and execution of Andre in Tappantown,
across the river, in October, 1780, all Elms ford ferried over
to attend. Even the Bible on which the oaths were taken
came from Elmsford.
Other stones there are with the names of Revolutionary
soldiers whose history is written nowhere, probably, but
here. Many more graves were marked by common field
stones, with not so much as an inscription on them, and all
these have now disappeared. Abraham Martling — his grave
is close under the willow — may be remembered not only be-
cause he died on New Year's Day, 1841, but because in re-
venge for the burning of Van Tassel's house he went to
Bloomingdale and burned that of the Tory lieutenant-
governor.
When the Rev. Silas Constant, who had been ordained as
an evangelist by the Presbytery of Morris County in 1784,
became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Hanover, now
Yorktown, Westchester County, he by no means spent all his
time within the church walls. His diary, kept carefully for
twenty years, shows that he travelled far and wide, preach-
ing in the country homes. At the house of Archer Reed,
in East View, he preached for the first time — text, Jeremiah
1 : 5 — on February 8, 1787, and he held services frequently
there in the next two years.
For almost a century the little Greenburgh Church flour-
ished. In 1825 a branch was established at Dobbs Ferry,
where it is now the First Presbyterian Church. In 1829 it
assisted in erecting the White Plains Presbyterian Church,
that had been burned in 1776. In 1852 the congregation
decided to unite with the Reformed Church, and it has since
remained with that denomination. It established a mission
at Hastings, now known as the First Reformed Church.
HOW $150 WILL SAVE PATRIOTS' GRAVES 107
Colonel Hamilton remembers the day when, in spite of the
fact that the church still had only two hymnals, there were
150 or 200 men and women every Sunday in the congrega-
tion, and a hundred children in the Sabbath school — many
of them coming from three, four and five miles away. At
this time Samuel Howland was the owner of the second
hymn book, and he was the first to afford the luxury of
cushions in his pew. But about twenty-five years ago things
began to go downhill. The old people had died, and the
younger ones had sold their land and moved away. Gradu-
ally the congregation dwindled, and its funds dwindled, until
there was little left to the old Greenburgh Church but a half
dozen living and a few score dead.
Such was the state of affairs at the beginning of 1911.
But for some years the village of Elmsford had been grow-
ing again. What there was left of the church found itself
in the center of a large and increasing population. The
church was reorganized ; a successful appeal for funds was
made to the Domestic Board of Missions; and the sum
obtained — swelled by local subscription of $400 — was
enough to pay the salary of a pastor.
Then, just when every effort had been expended to give
the church a fresh start, and when prospects of success
seemed brightest, Colonel Hamilton found that a drainage
tax of about $150 had been levied against the church prop-
erty. This was the last straw. Where should they raise an-
other $150, after all the good citizens had gone deep into
their pockets and barely obtained enough to repair the church
and pay the pastor's salary ? Colonel Hamilton thought that
one way, perhaps, was to send out an appeal to all the
patriotic citizens and societies in Westchester, and this he
did on September 1.
The story of the origin of that tax is a long one, but here
is the sum of it: The valley had long been called malarial,
and at least two property owners put in applications for
draining it, in order to make it more healthy. The petition
108 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
was finally accepted, and eventually the work was done — at
a cost of about $150,000. From most taxes church property
is exempt, but, as this was levied on the ground of health,
all property became affected. Thus the graveyard was taxed
for an improvement of its health conditions. The church
property was assessed $150, and by the payment or non-
payment of that the old Greenburgh Church must stand or
fall. If the tax remains unpaid, the property must be ad-
vertised and sold. Who can tell who would buy it? Per-
haps some rival of the owner of the garage across the way,
who might use the tombstones for paving blocks and the
graves for a pit, and sell gasoline at nineteen cents a gallon.
But even Colonel Hamilton thinks this a piece of fancy.
"Who would be so heartless as to destroy the graveyard,
even if they did buy the property ?" says he, and he may be
right.
It would be a shame on the church and on the community
and on all patriotic citizens if the Revolutionary graveyard
had to be sold. So far the Colonel has collected exactly
$5,50 — five dollars from a friend and fifty cents from an
automobile tourist who stopped to explore the graves, and
to him the old veteran told the story of the church's need.—
— Evening Post, New York, September 16, 1911.
Colonel Hamilton writes under date of December 9, 1915 :
"I raised the $150.00 and paid all claims against the
church property and cleared it from all incumbrance. The
donor of the $150.00, Mr. James B. Hammond of type-
writer fame, and a descendant of Colonel James Hammond
of the First Regiment of Westchester County Troops during
the Revolution, also gave funds to purchase three extra lots,
and his estate paid the cost of building a stone wall around
the property."
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON.
Personal Reminiscences
My Dear Cousin :
These war recollections, hastily gathered up out of mem-
ory, I fear may not be germane to the subject matter of
your contemplated pamphlet.
The only point of contact, perhaps, is the dear old Revolu-
tionary nest in Greenburgh which brooded us in childhood's
days. Anything which can be said to endear to others the
honorable name and amiable character of our venerable
grandfather meets with my enthusiastic sympathy. His
patriotism, upright life, and sterling worth, widely appreci-
ated by his contemporaries, should be gratefully treasured
through later years. No one event has ever made a more
lasting impression upon me than when, kneeling with my
brother at his bedside, he put his trembling hands upon our
heads and with dying breath, at 91 years of age, said : "God
bless you; grow up, my children, to be good men."
The early experiences of my life were exciting ones as
I recall them now. Born in a large double log cabin upon
the stretches of Wisconsin — the principal center of lead
mining operations owned by William S. Hamilton, a younger
son of Alexander Hamilton (my great-uncle), whose gener-
ous hospitality gathered such men as General Dodge, Elihu
B. Washburn, and Senator Charles Stephenson under his
109
110 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
roof, while the Black feet Indians held high carnival about
his doors and were frequently driven away with the whip in
his hand. He was small in stature, but the Indians stood in
wholesome awe of his authority. Prairie wolves upon winter
nights would visit and howl in the windows and were only
driven away by tossing firebrands.
My beloved mother, fearing such environments might not
be conducive to the welfare of her young children, gathered
us up in her arms and entered upon that long journey by
stage to Chicago, boat to Buffalo, canal to Albany, and stage
coach which dropped her at the head of Washington Irving
Lane. Soon an old tenant — Isaac Concklin, whom you re-
member, living in a hollow of the woodland heights beyond
the pitching place — found us and carried the children over
the heights and down the hillsides to the dear old home of
welcome, were those early days in which you shared, were
sunny with innocent play outside, and within bright with the
smiles of protecting love and care.
The first break on that smooth road was the departure
for school life at Antioch College, in southern Ohio, Sep-
tember, 1860.
The air was growing tense with apprehension. That
winter of national discontent intruded other thoughts than
study, and classes were often interspersed with drills and
marches and athletic exercises, anticipating the future needs.
The flag was often in evidence. When Sumter's guns broke
the silence, upon that momentous April day, the telegram
calling for 75,000 volunteers was answered before night by
sixteen of us, enlisting in defense of the country, and so we
marched away to Washington.
I prize that early act of enlistment as one of the praise-
worthy deeds of my youth.
The first war experiences were illuminating but not very
happy. Raw, untrained, and not toughened, life became
very strenuous and its demands beyond physical endurance.
When the regiment marched from Georgetown through
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON 111
Washington across Long Bridge to Alexandria and miles
beyond it to camp upon the left wing of General Mc-
Dowell's Army, destined for Bull Run, it was exhausting,
trudging in heavy marching order for fifteen miles, to be
immediately put on sentry duty and left unrelieved for six-
teen hours. It produced extreme weariness followed by
malarial fever and back into the hospital instead of on to
Bull Run, where I was discharged from the service.
At home I began recruiting in New York City. Then a
commission from Governor Morgan landed me at Fortress
Monroe, Virginia, in a cavalry squadron. Studious appli-
cation, sympathetic care and wise discipline, resulted in ad-
vancement, and when the spring campaign opened under
General McClellan, I held command of a troop of cavalry.
This troop led the right wing of the army to Yorktown,
where the first Confederate guns of that campaign broke
the silence, hurtling past the log upon which old General
Heintzelman and I sat discussing whether a charge I volun-
teered to make might not capture the piece. The General
waited General McClellan's arrival, and the advance of the
Southern troops lost the opportunity and led to a delay of
three weeks at Yorktown.
Prior to the Pennsylvania campaign, upon March 7th
and 8th, the Battle of the Merrimac and Monitor took place
— the initiation of battle experiences for me.
While in camp, the distant salvos of artillery broke the
afternoon silence ; "boots and saddles," rang out, and mount-
ed men at the heels of General Max Weber galloped away
to the scene of strife at Newport News. The wooded road
hid all sight, but the constant cannonading indicated what
was before us. As the plain opened near Newport News,
the Merrimac challenged our advance with a high shell, un-
horsing a few officers and uprooting a great tree in our ad-
vance. With tightened rein, the horses were sped on and
drew up in the rear of the only buildings upon the bluffs.
There, standing to horse, with shattered bricks falling upon
112 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
us, and the noise of cannonry filling our ears, we looked upon
the first day's battle and its carnage. At our right, with its
flag at mast, the sloop of war Cumberland went down with
her killed and wounded, the water full of men and their
rescuers. Upon our front steamed back and forth the Merri-
mac — firing at every turn, and somewhat beyond her three
other Confederate vessels. At our left the frigate Congress,
aground, decks strewed with her dead and wounded, still
firing.
Impatient at our inaction, I gained permission to take
twenty men to the river's edge, and lying down, we shot
at the open portholes of the Merrimac and fired upon ap-
proaching boats attempting to capture the men of the Con-
gress. Farther at the left, in shallow water and aground,
lay the Minnesota, replying with her broadsides to the
Merrimac ; and farther away two other United States ves-
sels, keeping beyond the range of the Merrimac's shells.
Thus night drew on, and the Confederate monster with-
drew to her moorings in Elizabeth River.
At night I was sent with a small detachment to picket
the road toward Yorktown. Wild rumors of large numbers
of Confederate troops approaching were about. The parallel
road along the James River did have a force under General
Magruder within striking distance, awaiting the work of the
Merrimac. Fear prevailed over duty, and without orders, I
brought my detachment in, arriving at midnight in time to
witness the explosion of the Congress.
The prevailing feeling that night was one of gloom. We
looked for the next day's work to end in defeat — our army
outnumbered, our navy hors de combat, the fortress with
no guns equal to the Merrimac ; but unknown to us the Moni-
tor steamed in and hid herself behind the Minnesota, hardly
distinguishable above the waters. Our little command of
mounted men, encamped near by, were held in readiness for
any emergency. The officers climbed to the roof of the Chesa-
peake Female Seminary, and witnessed the great spectacle
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON 113
of the day. For three hours the struggle went on. Thrilling
sensations of hope and fear hung on every move and shot.
The battering, the ramming, maneuvering, unintermittent
on each side, held our attention, only a mile away. When
the Merrimac retired, the suspense gave way, and the un-
bounded joy of relief made us wild with excitement. The
fortress was safe; we had escaped prison; the battle was
won. That day's work changed the character of naval war-
fare forever.
The next episode reveals the varied features of war. It
was no less than the capture of the city of Norfolk — a
glorious ending to a very inglorious beginning.
My orders placed me upon a huge canal boat instead of
a war vessel. A tug towed it across the bay toward Ocean
View. It was heavily laden and went aground one-half
mile from shore. Infantry firing was going on at Sewall's
Point and along the Elizabeth River. A crane was rigged.
Men took equipments and ammunition in small boats to
shore. The horses were swung overboard, guided to the
shore, caught and saddled, and a wild race followed for
ten miles, bringing us to the earthworks and abandoned guns.
We leaped the works, and followed our more fortunate
squadron into the city, where its keys were placed in the
hands of our Commander, signifying its surrender. It was
a bloodless victory, but accompanied with great results for
the Union — giving the Navy Yard a port and a hold upon
the south side of the James River.
Three days after this we were again in the saddle charg-
ing into Suffolk, eighteen miles south, upon the heels of the
Southern army, hastening to reinforce the troops defending
Richmond. This daring ride was heralded far and wide in
the North. Soon an order from Washington was received
to dash across the State of North Carolina and open up con-
nections with General Burnside upon Albemarle Sound.
This experience — for endurance and exposure and for con-
tinuance— was not again matched by us during the whole
114 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
war. A strange country, lonely roads, unbridged rivers,
numerous marshes, no reserves, Southern militia, guerillas,
small bodies of the enemy creeping upon every picket post,
gathering at every vantage place, sudden attacks in front and
rear, flanks exposed, 300 men arousing the whole country-
side with antagonism, without any knowledge of the num-
bers attacking us. After five days of incessant vigilance,
overcoming obstacles, with only two and a half hours' sleep,
with comparatively no loss of life or material, the country
making good the horses lost, the command, then a battalion,
was transferred to Suffolk for outpost duty. At this time
orders were received to recruit the battalion up to a regi-
ment, and the superior officers were ordered North upon
recruiting service. Contrary to my inclination, I was held
at the front, in command of three companies, to watch the
south shore of the James River, up to Smithfield to watch
Nansemond and Isle of Wight Counties up to Surrey, and
to patrol the lines of the Blackwater River where a force of
Confederates was stationed. Those were weeks of trying
service, mostly in saddle, engaged in scouting, marching,
picket duty, skirmishing, watching any possible advance of
the enemy, and interrupting any illicit traffic between the
lines, through spies, or others. This, at the time unwelcome
experience, was an efficient drill fitting for the after years.
Noteworthy among these numerous forays were the
Battle of the Deserted House, under General Corcoran ; the
Battle of Ely's Cross Roads, under Major (now General)
Wheelan ; the siege of Suffolk, where, with a hundred men,
the left flank of General Longstreet's army and the investi-
ture of the town was delayed for twenty-four hours. For
twenty miles we slowly contested the advance. The bridge
across the Nansemond River was blown up, leaving us out-
side. We escaped by swimming the river under fire of our
guns, and thus reached safety. Following this siege, at Cox's
Mills, accompanying a force of seventy-five men, after a full
day of skirmishing, with ammunition expended, we were
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON 115
ambuscaded by a superior force. Caught on a corduroy
road, flanked by swamps, we fell back with a loss of sixty
out of seventy-five men. The officer with a sabre stroke
cutting his mouth, and his breast cut, and myself with the
cape of my coat slit by a sword, succeeded in rallying
fifteen men, and with only naked blades, recharged a mile
and held the field. It was a hand-to-hand engagement,
striking with butts of pistols and carbines, pulling from
horses, wrestling, while horses ran wild over the men. The
memory of this action still tingles in my blood.
The year's work upon this front was exchanged in July,
1863, to the Peninsula, with headquarters at Williamsburg.
As before and afterwards, our position was the nearest to
Richmond of any Union troops. The Confederates intrusted
the Peninsula between Richmond and Williamsburg to the
care of two bands of guerilla or irregular troops — trained
marksmen and woodsmen from Mississippi, Alabama and
Virginia, under leaders acquainted with every nook and
corner of the land. The work was not coveted — it was try-
ing, it taxed ingenuity, there was need of strategy. Death
came not from the open but most frequently from bushes
and hidden coverts, picking men off by twos and threes.
There was little opportunity for military glory, but much
thought to meet inconspicuous fighting, brush skirmish,
picket shooting and secret scouting. The advantages were
all with the enemy. Their emissaries carried information
and assumed all sorts of disguises to learn our plans.
The capture of the Hampton Legion at Charles City
Court House, nine miles from Richmond, and a bushwhack-
ing trip may set forth the ordinary experiences of our war-
fare upon the Peninsula.
A well-planned and skillful capture of Richmond, Jeffer-
son Davis, his cabinet, and liberation of Libby prisoners, was
undertaken, and thwarted by an unforeseen circumstance.
At that period Richmond was divested of troops. General
Butler was well aware of conditions. Quietly, an infantry
116 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
force was increased at Williamsburg and an additional cav-
alry regiment was brought there. Every field officer was
given a map and specific instructions as to his work. Two
nights before the march, a prisoner escaped from our guard
house — he was a murderer of one of my lieutenants, a par-
ticular friend. The guard over the prisoner filed his fetters,
gave him the countersign, communicated the effort to be
made. The man went to Richmond and told his story.
General Pickett was ordered up from Petersburg with his
brigade and a battery. Reaching Bolton's Bridge, upon
Chickahominy River, we were turned back with a loss of six
men, facing guns and infantry, which disclosed the fact that
our plans were known and checkmated at Richmond.
In the early winter of 1864, a very successful reconnais-
sance was made up the Peninsula. The storm and blackness
of the night kept our march from the enemy's notice. Reach-
ing the Chickahominy River at daylight, the pickets were
surprised. A quick gallop of six miles brought us to Charles
City Court House, where a part of the Hampton Legion
was encamped. Nine miles from Richmond, mistaking a
tented field for the enemy's quarters, the regiment charged
it, when a guide riding back informed me that the main body
occupied the Court House at the right. With a rear-guard
of forty men, we swung sabers, advanced carbines, mounted
the hill, receiving a volley which emptied four saddles. The
dash drove the enemy within, when we dismounted, broke
in the rear door, cleared hallway and room after room, and
forced the surrender of one hundred men, capturing all
equipments. It was a clever fight with many narrow escapes.
It gave the men the confidence of a dash and courage which
animated them in after fields.
An extract from an affidavit made by Brevet Major
Cronin of General Kautz's staff may convey a report which
from my own pen would sound fulsome. In speaking of
one of the scouts after guerillas, Major Cronin says:
"In planning this expedition against the enemy, Major
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON 117
Hamilton made several new departures from ordinary meth-
ods of pursuing them. Moving swiftly at night in inclement
weather to a base of operations several miles above our
lines, and there dismounting a part of his command as
flankers, secreting others, he penetrated cautiously to the
scout stations at various haunts in the wilderness. He
broke up the enemy's retreats at Olive Branch Church, Barn-
ham Cross Roads, Baltimore Cross Roads, charged on to
new Kent Court House, there captured five wagon loads of
ammunition and quartermaster stores, and charged the force
down to Bolton's Bridge. Falling back to ten miles ordinary,
he took fifty men and secreted them in the woods, sending
the rest of his force into camp, and watched the regathering
of the guerillas. In the early morning their stealthy tread
was heard in the rear, and soon upon the open road they re-
appeared, moving carelessly and irregularly, as if satisfied
that the expedition had reached its camp. With orders to fire
low and mark their men, Major Hamilton ordered his men to
fire. Not a shot told, but with instant dash he led his men
on a charge, put to flight the enemy, who threw away their
arms, and hunted them until nightfall, when, exhausted and
with blistered feet, the command returned to camp, making
sixty miles in nineteen hours. The next night the Major
with a new force took the York River Road after the noted
leader Hume, famous upon the Peninsula, quickly routing
small parties, picking up a few prisoners, reaching the sup-
posed retreat, to find it vacated. These two scouts are
typical of the work performed by the Mounted Rifles upon
the Peninsula, and broke up the activity of irregular warfare
for months."
From Williamsburg the regiment was ordered to join
General Butler's army at Bermuda Hundred and partici-
pated in many engagements, becoming a part of the large
infantry command and working in connection with it on the
flanks, in front and rear.
At the battle of Fort Darling it did conspicuous work,
118 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
both in advance and on the retreat, checking a cavalry
charge, protecting wounded, and permitting rear-guard en-
gagements without broken ranks in retreat. In early sum-
mer the regiment was part of the cavalry force which held
Petersburg for four hours, and only the tardiness of the
infantry advance permitted General Lee's forces crossing
the Appomattox, thus leading to the siege of Petersburg
by General Grant.
When General Grant's army crossed to the south side
of the James from the Wilderness campaign, the regiment
led its Second, Third and Fifth Corps to the positions which
they held so long facing the foe.
In the autumn another transfer placed the regiment
upon the right flank of the army investing Richmond. Here
it participated in several battles and was honorably men-
tioned for its service upon October 7, 1864, in the Battle of
Darby town. After the defeat of our cavalry division I
carried a force of 250 men from the picket line to rifle pits
and held the rifle pits against large forces until our infantry
had manned their earthworks; then, retiring, was engaged
the whole day, until the enemy retired at evening to their
own defenses.
For seventeen days before the surrender at Appomattox
Court House, the regiment was in the saddle, sent to the
White House on York River, then hastily ordered to Fred-
ericksburg on the Rappahannock ; returning to Fortress
Monroe, it was rushed to the northern neck of Virginia and
met Mosby's command. Returning, it was refitted and for-
warded to North Carolina to burn the bridge across the
Roanoke River so that General Johnston's army could not
unite with General Lee's army. Here news of the surrender
readied us, and our fighting days closed with the capture
of a Confederate major and six men.
This is a brief outline of some few experiences with a
regiment which registers 104 engagements, big and little,
through four years and three months of service. I came
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON 119
out of the service in December, 1863, shattered in health,
serving as Provost Marshal for the District of the Northern
Neck, Virginia, comprising five counties, where it was
my privilege and pleasure to meet some of Virginia's re-
fined and distinguished people, receiving from them kind-
ness and regard, rejoicing in taking their oaths of allegiance
to the country.
With affection, yours,
Edgar A. Hamilton.
P. S. — The memoranda you ask for to supplement the
military record, of course, are the quiet annals of a country
pastorate.
Upon leaving the army, ill-health drove me from a com-
mission in the regular army offered me by the Honor-
able William H. Seward. Also it prevented me from a
contemplated profession of the law. For eight years I was
upon the invalid list, hampering my studies at Oberlin, Ohio,
and at the Theological Seminary, New York City. How-
ever, I spent two years with a Mission (now Covenant
Church), New York City, and, through a physician's advice,
was led to the mountain region to eliminate malaria absorbed
from a year's camping along the Dismal Swamp of Virginia.
In 1873, an opening came to me among the foothills of
the Blue Mountains in Sussex County, New Jersey. Little
thought I had that it would be a life-long work. The service
appealed to me from the very first. It was not beyond my
physical strength, and yet varied enough in its features to
deeply interest me. For ten years I was drawn into close
association with the more influential people of two counties,
engaging in Sabbath School, Temperance and Bible Society
work in connection with my church. I had the pleasure of
companionship with my old commander, Major-General
Kilpatrick, and gathering in my church the principal busi-
ness and professional men of the community, whose help
and sympathy have been very valuable to me.
120 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Thinking that my family would be improved in health,
I emigrated to Missouri in 1883, and lived ten years at
Springfield, where I organized and built the Second Pres-
byterian Church. It was a boom period of growth, and the
little church grew perhaps to its greatest strength while I
served it.
Providence, after the death of three of my family, turned
my feet eastward again, and just as the hunger for New
York pressed me, a very urgent invitation from my old
church in Sussex County came to me. Its acceptance
brought me back among these lovely hills and in the midst
of familiar faces and duties, and here for twenty-three years
more I have quietly lived, ministering in quiet ways to a
people through four or five generations. Today I have two
only of my church communion who greeted me in 1873.
Several young and cheery souls of the fifth generation smile
as the gray-headed pastor speaks to them.
There are compensations in a long pastorate such as mine.
I have not been hustled into changes, nor fevered by am-
bitious methods, but have given my best to develop the
best in others.
The vicinage of the city or cities has taken the youth —
young men and maidens — from under my ministry, and the
aged have been gathered to their fathers in quiet burial
places. Perhaps we have not kept pace with the new order.
The modern life does not lessen the conviction for more of
the old means of prayer, scriptural fidelity and a deep Chris-
tian experience apart from worldly conformity. During
these years changes have emphasized for me a gospel min-
istry, and, while no great increase in numbers has character-
ized my audiences, I note, in contrast to the dozen or more
changes in other pastorates with the spasms of popularity
and new voices and methods, that upon the whole there is
no loss to follow the even tenor of one's way, if it is un-
selfish.
During these years I have served the Blair Academy as
COLONEL (REV.) EDGAR A. HAMILTON 121
one of its directors; the Merriman Home for aged minis-
ters and their wives ; the Sussex County Bible Society as its
president; and now for fifteen years have kept interested a
literary society organized in my home, composed of forty
young people.
Still, at seventy-five years, I walk upright, but feel, to
use the military speech, the time will soon be here when I
must "stack arms" and wait the summons.
The mirage of youthful military ambitions has been
turned into the pool of sweet, refreshing waters of the
Spirit, and when the gates swing back I look forward to the
entrance where the crown of life shall be worn, only
through the Father's grace, praying for my loved country
and for the nations that they may strive no more but shall
enjoy the victories of peace.
Your affectionate cousin,
Edgar A. Hamilton.
COLONEL JOHN C. L. HAMILTON.
Personal Reminiscences.
John Cornelius Leon Hamilton, the youngest son of John
C. A. Hamilton and Angeline, nee Romer, was born in
Galena, Illinois, November 29th, 1842, and is a direct de-
scendant of General Alexander Hamilton, and Elizabeth,
nee Schuyler, on his paternal side. Captain John Romer,
his grandfather, and Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel, both
of the Revolution, were his maternal ancestors. He was
educated in the public schools of the Town of Greenburg,
Westchester County, New York.
After completing a three-year course of study at the
noted Paulding Institute at Tarrytown, he was sent to
Rutgers College, New Jersey, and while engaged in his
studies there the call for seventy-five thousand volunteers
to uphold the flag was made by the President, Abraham
Lincoln, under which he enlisted as a private in Company C,
Fifth New York Volunteers (Duryea's Zouaves), and par-
ticipated with that heroic regiment in the first real battle
of the Rebellion, at Big Bethel, Virginia. On the arrival
of a portion of the regiment at Baltimore from a protracted
march of one hundred and fifty miles down the eastern
shore of Maryland, in December, 1861, he was detailed as
private secretary to the brigade commander, and while
acting as such revised and corrected for publication a volu-
minous manuscript upon the "Art of War," and at the
same time continued the study of military engineering, under
the supervision of Colonel Gouverneur K. Warren. Upon
122
COLONEL JOHN C. L. HAMILTON
COLONEL JOHN C. L. HAMILTON 123
the organization of the Third New York Artillery, early
in 1862, he was commissioned a second lieutenant and joined
Company G of that regiment, stationed at Fort Woodbury,
near Bull Run, Virginia, and was immediately detailed to
drill and instruct the officers in infantry and artil-
lery practice at Fort Cochran, that state. The regiment
having been ordered to reinforce General Burnside's expe-
dition in North Carolina, Lieutenant Hamilton immediately
after its arrival at New Berne, was detached by orders of
Generals John G. Foster and Burnside from his regiment
and assigned to the engineer corps. His services in this
particular line of duty were of the most arduous kind.
Several thousand of unskilled contrabands were employed
who required constant supervision. The construction of
forts, redoubts, and breastworks, and strengthening of
strategic points, permitted of no rest or relief from the
extreme heat and enervating climate.
Fort Macon, distant forty-two miles from New Berne,
having been captured, Lieutenant Hamilton was directed
to open an air line through the woods and swamps and con-
struct observatories for the use of the signal corps to that
point. When this important work was completed he was
carried to the hospital, where the ravages of typhoid and
malarial fever soon reduced him to a mere skeleton, so
that he weighed but eighty-five pounds. His friends gave
up all hope, and the chaplain had taken note of the last
requests to family and friends. The turningpoint toward
recovery, however, came rapidly, and when application for
a leave of absence for thirty days was made it was returned
endorsed, "Request denied." The services of this officer
were too valuable to be spared. The attention of the med-
ical director of the department having been called to the
matter, that officer issued the desired leave, and upon its
expiration, September 1st, 1862, orders from Major-General
Foster directed Lieutenant Hamilton to proceed and fortify
Washington, North Carolina. Four days after his arrival
124 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
there the enemy made a fierce attack upon the small garri-
son. For several hours the unequal hand-to-hand struggle
continued in the streets and severe losses occurred upon
both sides. Lieutenant Hamilton upon this occasion dis-
played the utmost coolness and bravery, and although the
enemy had taken a large number of his men prisoners and
captured four brass field pieces* the contest was continued
with the fifth gun until he alone was left, twenty-two men of
his command having fallen around him before the order
to retreat was given.
After the battle active work upon the fortification was
continued for several months, during which Mr. Hamilton
gave all his spare time in connection with Lieutenant John
J. Lay of the navy, perfecting an experimental torpedo
vessel which, upon its trial, proved a great success, and by
direction of the Secretary of the Navy, five vessels were
directed to be built after the plans developed. The first
was sent to the fleet at the mouth of the Roanoke River
in Albemarle Sound, and under the command of Lieu-
tenant Cushing destroyed the iron-clad ram Albemarle, at
Plymouth, North Carolina. Orders were then issued as-
signing Lieutenant Hamilton chief engineer to Major-Gen-
eral Hunt, afterwards the chief of artillery of the Army
of the Potomac. That officer gave Hamilton a number of
men with instructions to construct a fort upon the Neuse
River, afterwards known as Fort Heckman, but, owing to the
large number of men and government supplies at Washing-
ton, North Carolina, and the urgent necessity of completing
the works at that point, Major-General Palmer, command-
ing the department, directed Lieutenant Hamilton to return
there. On March 31, 1863, Major-General Foster arrived
and ordered Lieutenant Hamilton to ascertain whether the
Confederate forces of General Hill that he expected would
soon attack the garrison had arrived with artillery at Red
Hill, a Confederate outpost. In executing this order one
captain and five privates of the Forty- fourth Massachusetts
COLONEL JOHN C. L. HAMILTON 125
Volunteers were wounded. The enemy had not then arrived
in force, but did during the night and completely surrounded
the town.
At daylight, April 1st, they commenced an attack upon
one of our naval vessels, the Commodore Hull, which unfor-
tunately was aground. Lieutenant Hamilton was ordered
with two small rifle cannons to take position upon an ex-
posed point on the river and endeavor to draw the enemy's
fire away from the gunboat, which had been struck one
hundred and four times and had all her guns dismounted.
The enemy were so intent upon sinking this vessel that no
attention was paid to the guns on shore until the gunboat,
released from her position by the rising tide, started rapidly
away. Then they turned their fourteen Whitworth guns
against the two and kept up a constant fire until dark. Gen-
eral Foster directed Lieutenant Hamilton to construct a fort
at this exposed point during the night, and have siege guns
mounted. This was built and named Fort Hamilton, in
honor of its commander. It bore a conspicuous part in that
memorable siege that lasted twenty days.
Lieutenant Hamilton's health having become very much
impaired, he returned north, during the draft riots, and
took an active part in quelling the disturbances at Tarry-
town, and after a much needed rest returned to the front.
By advice of his physicians he resided for a considerable
time after the close df the Rebellion in the thickly wooded
pine tree sections of the south. The later years of his life
have been spent in the neighborhood of his boyhood home.
He has contributed many interesting historical sketches to
the public press, and for the past few years has been en-
gaged in gathering material for a history of Phillips Manor.
At 4:30 on the morning of September 6th, 1862,
Lieutenant Hamilton became acquainted with a young lady
of Washington, North Carolina, who had appealed to him,
in the midst of a fierce hand-to-hand conflict, for protec-
tion, some of the opposing military forces, separated in the
126 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
heat of the battle from their comrades, without permission,
having taken refuge upon her premises and in her dwelling.
This brief acquaintance was rewarded a short time after-
ward when Lieutenant Hamilton appealed to the young
lady to provide a home and shelter for an aged slave, he
having been the trusted family servant of the leading Con-
federate of all that territory. This interview also pro-
cured the use of a warehouse, with forge and much needed
temporary supply of coal, which contributed toward the
construction of the experimental torpedo boat already men-
tioned, in order to bridge over the delay until charcoal kilns
could be prepared and burned. These casual interviews
principally of a formal business nature, were, however,
destined to bring about a permanent acquaintance. Lieu-
tenant Hamilton's duties were of an onerous character,
requiring the use of three horses during the day and much
mental labor until late at night. Being in frail health, he
at length suddenly succumbed and was found in an uncon-
scious state at his quarters. He was taken to the private
house of a Union resident where he was nursed back to
strength, one of his attendants being the lady already men-
tioned.
Invitations announcing the marriage of Miss Sarah F.
Pugh to Lieutenant Hamilton on March 3rd, 1863, brought
together at the bride's home a large number of army and
naval officers, which the garrison supplemented by turning
out in review and by giving them a national salute. This
compliment the bride, however, was called upon to return
before the close of the month, by working night and day in
preparing cartridge bags, while shot and shell came crash-
ing all about and through the very room she was em-
ployed in.
When the heat of the strife had subsided, preparations
were made to visit the North, but scarcely had foot been
set upon the soil of the Empire State before orders were
COLONEL JOHN C. L. HAMILTON 127
given to report for military duty in order to quell the riots
then in progress. Here again cartridge bags had to
be made and the military experience of the bride and groom
gave the citizens of Tarrytown their first opportunity to
witness the impromptu manufacture of some very dangerous
ammunition, which fortunately did much toward quelling
the riots.
WYANDANCE, GRAND SACHEM OF LONG
ISLAND.
When the Europeans came to Long Island, the Indians,
who had been greatly reduced in number, were divided,
so far as we can learn, into thirteen distinct tribes. Each
of these tribes had its sagamore or chief. At one time
they were all united in a confederacy at the head of which
was a powerful chief, the Grand Sachem of Paumanacke,
or Sewanhacka. The Montauks were the ruling tribe.
Montauk was a place of distinction by the fact that it was
a great burial place. The dead, particularly chiefs and war-
riors of note, were brought from all parts of the island to
be buried there.
The Indian government was a monarchical despotism. In
their person, they were tall, of proud and lofty movement, of
active bodies, and as straight as an arrow. They were war-
like in their habits. Their chiefs and their braves were
distinguished above those of the other tribes of the island,
for prowess in the field, for a recklessness of life in battle,
and for the bold and daring onset with which, uttering their
war scream, they rushed upon their enemy.
The chiefs of the Montauks were the grand sachems of
the confederacy. The most distinguished of these was
Wyandance. (The name Wyandance is derived from
"wyan" wise; "dance," to speak out; as a whole, "The
Wise Speaker.") He was always the unwavering friend
of the whites. The New England Indians often sought to
128
WYANDANCE, GRAND SACHEM OP LONG ISLAND 129
involve him in a coalition against the new settlers, but he
never yielded, and uniformly communicated their designs
£o Lion Gardiner, between whom and himself entire con-
fidence and friendship existed.
Captain Lion Gardiner, as stated in his family Bible,
came with his wife from London to New England in 1635,
and dwelt for four years at Saybrook Fort at the mouth
of the Connecticut River, he being in command of that fort.
Here his son David and daughter Mary were born, the
latter on August 30, 1638. Thereafter he purchased from
the Indians an island called by them Manchonock (by the
English, Isle of Wight), now known as Gardiner's Island,
containing 3,500 acres of land, where another daughter was
born on September 14, 1641. The price paid by Gardiner
for the island was one large black dog, one gun, some powder
and shot, some rum and a pair of blankets.
When Chief Ninigret and his Narragansett braves made
an attack upon the Montauks, and carried away fourteen of
their chief women, including the daughter of Wyandance,
Captain Gardiner interested himself in the matter and had
the women taken to the home of Richard Smith, at Wick-
ford, now North Kingston, R. I., where the Indhn princess
remained until ransomed and restored to her father by
Gardiner. The old chief in recognition of Captain Gardiner's
kindness and services in the matter gave him a deed to a
large tract of land where Smithtown is now located, a copy
of which deed is as follows :
Deed.
East Hampton, July 14, 1659.
Bee it knowne unto all men, both English and Indians, especially
the inhabitants of Long Island, that I, Wyandance, Sachem of Pama-
nack, with my wife and sonne Wyankanbone, my only sonne and
heire, having deliberately how this twenty foure years wee have
been not only acquainted with Lyon Gardiner, but from time to time
have received much kindness from him, and from him not only, by
councell and advice, in our prosperity, but in our extreamity, when
we were almost swallowed up of our enemies, then wee say hee
appeared to us, not only as a ffriend, but as a ftather, in giving us
of his money and goods, whereby wee defended ourselves, and ran-
130 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
somed my Daughter and ffriends. And wee say and know that by his
means wee had great Comfort and relief, from 'the most Hondbl°
of the English Nation here about us. So that seeing wee yet live,
and both of us being now old, and not that wee at any time have
given him anything to gratify his Love, care and Charge, wee have
nothing left that is worth his acceptance but a Small Tract of Land,
wch wee desire him to accept of for himselfe, his heires, Executo™
and assigns forever;
Now that it may be known how and where this Land lyeth on
Long Island wee say it lyeth between Huntington and Seatancut the
westerns Bounds being Cowharbour, easterly Actaamunk and south-
erly cros«c ye Island to the end of ye great hollow or valley or more
than half through the Island southerly, and that this is our free Act
ind Deed doth appear Our hand and Markes under written.
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of
Richard Smith
Thomas Chatfield
Thomas Talmage
Wyandance X his mark
Wyankanbone IX his mark
The Sachem's Wife X her mark
AH of the native tribes of the Island, as far as the Canar-
ies' territory, were at one time tributary, in a greater or
less degree, to Poggatacut, the elder brother of the Mon-
taukett sachem, who resided on Shelter Island, as sachem
over the Manhassett tribe, and as great sachem of all Long
Island. In 1651, the Montaukett sachem, Wyandance, suc-
ceeded his brother, then deceased, as great sachem of Long
Island, and had under him from ten to fifteen sachems,
with whom his word was law, and over whom he exercised
despotic sway.
Wyandance himself was tributary to the Pequots, a people
residing on the shores of the Connecticut and Mystic rivers,
more fierce, cruel and warlike than any of the tribes around
them, and who at one time numbered four thousand able
warriors. Their large canoes enabled them to transport
across the sound any number of men, and their frequent
visits to the island, overawed the tribes, and secured a con-
tinuance of their dominion.
At the first settlement by the whites, the Montauketts
were yet numerous. They raised great quantities of corn
WYANDANCE, GRAND SACHEM OF LONG ISLAND 131
and vegetables ; their woods were well stocked with animals
and birds, and their bays and ponds with water fowl.
Their canoes, in which they visited the neighboring islands
and the continent, as far east as Boston, and as far south
as New York, were of the largest class ; and that of Wyan-
dance, was so large as to require the strength of seven or
eight men to draw it from the water upon the shore, and
on one occasion it suffered injury from the waves at
Gardiner's Island for want of a sufficient number of persons
to place it beyond the reach of the sea.
In the year 1658, Wyandance, Sachem of Montaukett,
plaintiff, prosecuted Jeremy Daily, defendant, for an in-
jury done to his "great cannow." The case was tried by
the "three men," and the Jury in the case rendered a
verdict for the plaintiff, as appears by the record, viz :
January 25th, 1658.
Waiandanch, Sachem of Meantaquit, Pit, hath entered an action
of damage against Jeremy Daily defendant.
Mr. Lion Gardiner testifieth that hee was at the Hand when my
son and Goodman Daily came over, and I heard that the Great
Cannow was coming, and I went Down to meet them, and made
a noise for them that were in the house, to follow me, and I mett
my sonn and Goodman Daily coming up, and I asked them whie they
puled not up the canow, and they said it was time enough, and I
called them to goe to gett it up, and we all went, and could do
nothing, and then we went again, and she was full.
John Rose testifieth, that when the canow was brought into the
South harbor, my Brother Anthony Waters and Goodman Daily,
did mend the canow, by putting 2 pieces into the side of her and
upon that account they were to have the use of her, when their time
was out, to carrie over their things.
The verdict of the Jury — they find for the Pit. 10s. Damage,
and court charges.
The Court charges is £l Is Od.
Town records, Book No. 2, p. 65.
The decease of the sachem Poggatacut was an important
event with the Indians. His remains were transported for
burial from Shelter Island to Montauk. In removing the
body, the bearers rested the bier by the side of the road
leading from Sag Harbor to Easthampton, near the three-
mile stone, where a small excavation, afterwards known as
132 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
the "Sachem's Hole," was made to designate the spot where
the head rested. From that time for more than one hun-
dred and eighty years, this memorial remained as fresh,
seemingly, as if but lately made. No leaf, nor stone, nor
other thing, was suffered to remain in it. The Montaukett
tribe, though reduced to a pitiful number of some ten or
fifteen persons, retained for many years the memory of this
event, and no individual of them passed the spot in his
wanderings without removing whatever may have fallen
into it. The place was to them holy ground, and the ex-
hibition of this pious act does honor to the finest feelings
of the human heart. The excavation was about twelve
inches in depth and eighteen in diameter.
Wyandance, at one time, learning that Ninicraft was upon
Block Island, proceeded there with a formidable force and
arrived about midnight; when coming upon the Narragan-
setts he slaughtered about thirty, two of whom were per-
sonages of great note and one the nephew of the sachem.
Subsequently, Ninicraft passed over to Montauk, burned
the wigwams, sacked the barns, destroyed the corn fields,
killed many of the principal warriors of the tribe and made
captive fourteen women, among whom was the only daugh-
ter of Wyandance. The deep affliction of the father at the
loss of his daughter can well be imagined, and the ardent
affection which he maintained for his child was in part
evidenced in the present he made upon her redemption.
In 1656, the Massachusetts Commissioners declined to
render any further assistance to the Long Island Indians,
and aid was for a short time given them by the colonies of
Hartford and New Haven. Wyandance, in the same year,
visited the Commissioners, at Boston, and in consideration
of the distresses which had befallen him, obtained a remis-
sion of the tribute which had been exacted of him since the
Pequot war. He was now left to contend alone against a
vastly superior force, and the war was continued between the
Narragansetts and Montauketts with great cruelty; but as
WYANDANCE, GRAND SACHEM OF LONG ISLAND 133
it was confined to the Indians, few of the events were known.
Roger Williams refers the trouble between these tribes to
the pride of the rival sachems: "He of Montaukett was
proud and foolish, — he of Narragansett was proud and
fierce."
Upon arrival of Governor Kieft, in 1638, to take charge
of the Dutch settlement at New Amsterdam, it was found
that the settlers under two former governors had been in
an impoverished condition, and on account of their pitiable
state, the Indians had shown them great kindness, had taken
some to their wigwams, had supplied corn, maize, dried
clams, etc., and taught them to sew furs and make mocca-
sins, and had given them their daughters for companions,
some of whom had borne children.
The Dutch, under Kieft, had, in 1638, set up the Royal
Standard on a tree at Cow Bay to mark their boundary.
This was removed by some English from Connecticut and
a fool's face substituted. This provoked the Dutch, and in
the fight which followed several Indians were killed, which
so exasperated the Indians that they resolved to annihilate
the Dutch on Manhattan Island, and word was sent out to
the tribes to assemble all warriors, canoes and boats at
Canarsie for that purpose. Governor Kieft, learning of
this, sent two commissioners to see them. During the con-
ference one of the chiefs described the early friendly re-
lations existing, as already stated, and further said that the
Dutch by killing the Indians were destroying their own off-
spring and for that reason they had resolved to exterminate
the entire settlement, which they came very near doing in
1649.
Wyandance died in 1659, leaving a wife, Wuch-i-kit-
tau-but, and two children, one a son named Weon-com-bone,
and a daughter, Catoneras, wife of Jan Cornelius Van
Texsel. It was that daughter that Lion Gardiner had ran-
somed from captivity.
134 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
He appointed Lion Gardiner and his son, David Gardiner,
to be the guardians of his son Weon-com-bone, as appears
from a deed dated February 11, A. D. 1661, a copy of which
is as follows :
Copy Deed of 1661.
Be it knowne unto all men by these presents, that I, the Sunk
Squa of Meantuck, wife of Wiandanch, of late years Deceased,
and also I Wionkombone, Sonne of the foresaid Deceased partie,
Sachem of Long Island, together with Pokkatonn, Chief Counsellor,
and the rest of our trusty Counsellors and associates, send greeting.
Know ye, that Whereas there was a full and firm Indenture made
between Mr. Thomas Baker, Mr. Robert Bond, Mr. Thomas James,
Mr. Lion Gardiner, Mr. John Mulford, John Hand, Benjamin Price,
Together with their associates, the Inhabitants of Easthampton upon
Long Island, ye one partie, and I sunk Squa, and also me Wion-
kombone, with the full Consent of my Counsellors and Servants,
as also of my two Guardians, left by my deceased Father, viz : Mr.
Lion Gardiner of Easthampton, and Mr. David Gardiner, of ye Isle
of wight, yc other partie, in ye years of or Lord One Thousand
Six Hundred Sixtie, upon ye sixt day of August, whereby we did
fully and firmly sell unto the said parties, our neck of land called
Montaukut, from sea to sea, from ye utmost end of that neck East-
ward called wompenanit, to our utmost bounds westward, Called
Napeale, with all priviledges and appurtenances belonging to the
same, upon Condition there and then specified in that foresaid
Indenture, and a Counterbond, bearing ye same Date, signed and
sealed to us by ye foresaid parties, Inhabitants of East-Hampton,
by virtue of which Counterbond we had free libertie granted if wee
see cause to sit down again upon ye said land, this being the full
purpose of us the Sunk Squa, of Wionkombone, Sachem, together
with our associates in Convenient time to sit down to live at ye said
Montaukut ; know yee allsoe, that whereas of late years, there hav-
ving beene sore Distress and Calamities befallen us by reason of ye
Cruel opposition and Violence of or most Deadly Enemies Ninnicraft,
Sachem of Narhigganset, whose Cruelty hath proceeded so farr
as to take away ye lives of many of or Deare friends and relations,
soe that we were forced to flie from ye said Montouquit for shelter
to our beloved friends and neighbors of Easthampton, whom wee
found to be friendly in our distress, and whom wee must ever owne
and acknowledge as instruments under God, for ye preservation of
or lives and ye lives of our Wives and Children to this Day, and of
that Land of Montakut from ye hands of or Enemies, and since or
Coming amongst them ye relieving of us in or Extremities from
time to time; and now at last wee find ye said Inhabitants of East-
hampton, our Deliverers, Cordial, and faithfull in their former
Covenants, leaving us freely to or own libertie to go or stay, being
ready to perform all conditions of of ye foresaid agreem't. After
serious debate and deliberation, in Consideration of that love which
we have and doe bear, unto these our trustie and beloved friends
of Easthampton, upon our owne free and Voluntarie motion, have
piven and granted, and by these presents do give and grant and
WYANDANCE, GRAND SACHEM OP LONG ISLAND 135
Confirme unto these our friends, ye Inhabitants of Easthampton,
Excepting such as have Exempted themselves from ye former
agreement; and shall from this our grant, all that piece or neck of
land belonging to Montakut Land, westward to a fresh pond in a
beach on this side, Westward to that place where the old Indian
ffort stoode on ye other side, Eastward to ye new fort that is yet
standing; the name of ye pond being Quanuntowunk on ye North
and konkhonganik on ye south, together with all priviledges and
appurtenances belonging to the foresaid land from south to north,
To have and to hold ye same at free Commonage, to be ordered
and disposed of for the benefit of ye aforesaid Inhabitants of Eait-
Hampton, themselves, their heirs, administrators, Executors and
assigns forever ; to possess the same freely and quietly, without any
matter of Challenge clayme or demand of us, ye said Sunk Squa
and Wionkombone Sachem, or our associates, or of any other per-
son or persons whatsoever, for us or in our name, or for our cause,
means or procurement. And without any money or other things
therefor to be yielded, paid or done only for ye said Land, to us or
our heires forever, and shall Justifie the possession of this foresaid
Land, by these said Inhabitants of Easthampton, against any shall
Questin their propertie in the same. Know ye allso, yt this is not
only the Deed of mee, ye Sunk Squa, and Wionkombone Sachem,
but allso the act and Deed of all our associates and subjects, who
have hadd formerly any propertie in ye foresaid Land they having
manyfested their consent freely by a Voate, not one contradicting
the same, as allsoe with ye consent of Mr. Lion Gardiner and Mr
David Gardiner, Whome the Deceased Father left as Overseers
and Guardians of the aforesaid Wiankombone Sachem; know yee
also yt for ye securing of ye Easterne part of Montaukut Land,
which ye Indians are to live upon, yt the Inhabitants of ye foresaid
Easthampton shall from time to time, keep up a sufficient fence
upon ye North side of ye foresaid pond, and the Indians are to
secure ye south side of ye foresaid pond, from all cattle, Dureing ye
time their Corn is upon the ground. And then Easthampton Cattle
shall have Libertie Eastward, according to former agreement ; and
that ye Indians of Montaukut shall have libertie if they see cause
to sett their Houses upon Meantauk land, Westward of ye said oond,
and to have firewood from time to time, on ye foresaid land. Know
also, that whatever Connoe or Deer shall come a shore on ye North
side on any part of Meantauk Land, Easthampton Inhabitants shall
not hinder ye Sachem of them. And Whereas ye deceased Sachem
in his life, freely gave to Mr. Lion Gardiner, and Mr. Thomas James
what Whales should at any time be cast upon Meantauk Land, as
allso confirmed by me, Sunk Squa and Wionkombone Sachem since,
and ye rest of our associates, which not being minded when former
agreement was made, I, Sunk Squa. and allso I, Wiankombone
Sachem, together with our associates, doe freely give to ye said Lion
Gardiner and Thomas James, to be Equally divided between them,
the first Whale shall be cast upon Montauket, to them and their
heirs or assigns forever, wee give ye one halfe of all such Whales
as shall be cast upon Montakut land, and the other half to be Divided
as the said Inhabitants of Easthampton stand Engaged to us for
as the said Inhabitants of Easthampton stand Engages to us for
pay for that land Eastward of ye foresaid pond, soe wee allso stand
136 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Engaged, neither Directly nor indirectly, to give, let or sell any part
of that land, without consent of Easthampton. Know yee allso, yt
if at any time hereafter, if Either through sickness or warr, or any
other means, it shall come to pass yt ye Indians belongin to Mon-
takut be taken away, soe yt it shall not bee safe for them to Con-
tinue there, that then those that survive shall have libertie to come
to Easthampton for shelter, and be there provided of land, and to
have the former agreement fulfilled, and to remaine as firme and
sure, as though there never had been any such act or Deed as here
is specified, and that duringe lihe time of the Indians abode at Mon-
takut, they shall be careful of doing any wrong to the English either
by their owne persons or doggs, or any other way whatsoever. In
Witness of ye premises wee do here set to our hands. Dated att
Easthampton, Feb. 11, Anno. Dom. 1661.
Signed by the marks of the "Sunk Squa," "Wiankombone Sachem,'.
and nine other Indians, in behalf of the rest.
Sealed, Signed and Delivered in presence of us,
Edward Codner,
William Miller.
Wyandance admitted no equal in the government of his
people, but stood alone chief of the tribe. While he exer-
cised the sovereignty as great sachem of Long Island,
though he suffered most severely in the wars with the Nar-
ragansetts, his proud, independent spirit would yield to no
terms derogatory to the prowess of his nation. In his death,
the English lost a warm and devoted friend. His attach-
ment for the whites, though he sometimes suffered from
them great provocation, never wavered, and the command-
ing influence which he possessed over the Indian tribes of
the island was ever exercised to prevent any hostile move-
ments against them.
THE HAWLEY FAMILY.
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register,
Vol. XXXIII, April, 1879, contains an address by a Mr.
Selden, made at Saybrook, Connecticut, on the 22d of Aug-
ust, 1877, at a re-union of the Selden family, presided over
by Honorable Morrison R. Waite, Chief Justice of the
United States, whose mother was Maria Selden Waite. Mr.
Selden had a few spirited, if uncomplimentary, words to say
concerning the Hawleys, to wit:
"The Hawleys, I regret to say, as appears from the 'Roll
of Battle Abbey', came to England from Normandy with
that wretched filibustering crew, led by William the Con-
queror, in 1066. A worse set of scoundrels never robbed
a nation, or spoiled half so ruthlessly. Wholesale pillagers !
Gigantic bummers!"
Life in England seemed to improve the Normans. At
least the Hawleys grew in grace, and one of them, Joseph
Hawley, born about 1600, came to America from Derby-
shire in 1639, and established his home in Connecticut. He
married Katherine Birdsey in 1646 and begat sons and
daughters.
The record of this family, in so far as the Romer family
is concerned, is as follows :
Joseph Hawley.
Samuel Hawley, first child of Joseph.
Born, 1647.
Married, May 20, 1673, to Mary Thompson.
Married 2d, to Patience Hubbell, (widow).
137
138 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Ephraim Hawley, eighth child of Samuel, Sen.
Born, 1692.
Married, 5th Oct., 1711, to Sarah Curtiss.
Josiah Hawley, eighth child of Ephraim.
Born, 1731.
Married, 8th Feb.., 1753, to Hannah Warner.
Lemuel Hawley, fifth child of Josiah.
Minerva Hawley, first child of Lemuel.
Married Luther Lockwood, a lieutenant in American
Army in War of 1812.
Caroline C. Lockwood, St. Albans, Vt.; second child of Lieut.
Luther Lockwood and Minerva Hawley, his wife.
Born, May 8, 1811.
Married, March 27, 1845, to Alexander Romer.
Died, August 28, 1894.
John Lockwood Romer, lawyer, Buffalo, N. Y., first child of
Alexander Romer and Caroline C. Lockwood, his wife.
Born, December 16, 1845.
Married, January 25, 1872, to Katherine M. Taylor.
Carrie E. Romer, Buffalo, N. Y., third child of Alexander Romer
and Caroline C. Lockwood, his wife.
Born, May 9, 1854.
Married, February 4, 1876 to Millard F. Windsor.
Died, July 3, 1906.
Ray Taylor Romer, Buffalo, N. Y., first child of John L. Romer
and Katherine Taylor Romer, his wife.
Born, October 10, 1874.
Florence E. Romer, Buffalo, N. Y.; second child of John L.
Romer and Katherine Taylor Romer, his wife.
Born, Dec. 21, 1876.
Married, Nov. 8, 1899, to Rev. Charles C. Albertson,
D. D.
Mabel Romer, Buffalo, N. Y., third child of John L. Romer and
Katherine Taylor Romer, his wife.
Born, November 20, 1881.
Married, Sept. 5, 1907, to Harold H. Baker, M. D.
Katherine Romer Albertson, Germantown, first child of Charles
C. Albertson and Florence E. Romer, his wife.
Born, October 26, 1900.
John Simeon Baker, son of Harold H. Baker and Mabel Romer
Baker, his wife.
Born, August 20, 1916.
Mildred Windsor, Buffalo, N. Y., fourth child of Millard F.
Windsor and Carrie E. Romer, his wife.
Born, January 4, 1884.
Ellen Josephine Windsor, Buffalo, fifth child of Millard F. Wind-
sor and Carrie E. Romer, his wife.
Born, October 20, 1890.
VIRGIL CORYDON TAYLOR
THE TAYLOR FAMILY.
The Taylors, as well as the Hawleys, came into England
with the Normans under the guidance of William the Con-
queror in 1066.
Taillefer was the original form of this name, but simpli-
fied spelling has cut out letters here and there and changed
others. An old tradition is to the effect that one of Wil-
liams' Knights was the bold Norman baron Taillefer, who,
before the battle of Hastings, was so enthusiastic at the
prospect of a fight that he threw up his sword, catching it
again on its downward course,
"Chanting aloud the lusty strain
Of Roland and of Charlemagne."
He lost his life in this battle, and it is said that William
the Conqueror himself in acknowledgment of the baron's
prowess bestowed, as the hero was dying, the motto which
appears on the Taylor coat of arms, "Drink to Taillefer,
boys, his heirs shall have a whole county, fee-simple deeded,
and a motto — Consiquitur quodcunque petit — (he accom-
plishes what he undertakes). In fulfillment of this promise
large estates in Kent and other counties were granted to
his family.
The Connecticut branch of the family is descended from
William Taylor, who was born in Clitheroe, County Lan-
caster, England, in 1609, son of Thomas Taylor of Clitheroe.
He was baptized at Saint George's, Canterbury, left Graves-
end, in the "Expedition," November 20, 1635. January 2nd,
139
140
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
1649, he received a grant of land at Wethersfield, Connecti-
cut, where he appeared prior to 1647. He is in the list of
Freemen in Wethersfield in 1669. He married, about 1648,
— , and had descendants as follows:
Mary -
John
Samuel
Mary
William
b.
m.
b.
m.
b.
b.
m.
Margaret b.
Jonathan b.
III.
July 23, 1649.
March 2, 1698/9 Sarah (Hart) Scone, daughter of
Edmund Hart of Dorchester and widow of John
Scone, d. Westfield, August 19, 1684.
March 2, 1651. d. December 12, 1711.
April 10, 1678, Sarah (Cole) Persons, daughter of
Henry Cole and wid. John Persons.
March 7, 1654/5.
February 14, 1659.
Dec. 18, 1693, Elizabeth Biggs, daughter of William
of Middletown.
July 15, 1663.
April 6, 1666.
SAMUEL TAYLOR.
b. Wethersfield, Ct., Mch. 2, 1651.
d. Dec. 12, 1711.
m. Wethersfield, Apr. 10, 1678.
Sarah (Cole) Persons b. Middletown, Ct., Oct. 22, 1654.
d. Dec. 9, 1712.
Children, b. Wethersfield:
Samuel b. May 10, 1679.
Sarah b. Oct. 20, 1680.
William b. Nov. 16, 1683.
Mary b. Aug. 20, 1685.
m. Dec. 28, 1707, Enoch Buck.
John b. Feb. 1, 1688; d. Haddam, July 13, 1761.
m. 1st, Jan. 15, 1711/2, Elizabeth Bailey; d. June 6, 1743 ;
daughter of John.
2nd, Anne; d. June 27, 1759, age 62.
March 3, 1693.
Jan. 26, 1695.
Margaret b
Mabel b
IV. JOHN TAYLOR
Elizabeth Bailey
b. Wethersfield, Ct., Feb. 1, 1688.
d. Haddam, July 13, 1761.
m. 1st Jan. 15, 1711/12.
h. Haddam, Oct. 24, 1694.
d. June 6, 1743, aged 49.
Children, first three b. Wethersfield, last nine in Middletown:
Samuel b. Nov. 8, 1712.
m. Middletown, June 15, 1735, Mary Bevin, dau.
THE TAYLOR FAMILY
141
Thomas (?)
Elisha b.
m.
b.
m.
b.
m.
b.
m.
Sarah
Noadiah
Kesiah
William
March 3, 1715.
Middletown, Sept. 20, 1739, Hannah Judd, daughter
Jonathan.
April 27, 1716.
( — ) Francis.
Middletown, Oct. 24, 1739, Abigail Whitmore.
Aug. 1, 1720.
Middletown, June 21, 1744, Ezra Andrews (?)
b. Sept. 2, 1722. d. 1777.
m. 1st, Middletown, Sept. 25, 1747, Susanna Freeman.
d. Middletown, Oct. 12, 1750, age 26.
2nd, Middletown, Nov. 16, 1750, Ruth (Rich) Hig-
gins, daughter of Thomas Rich.
John d.
Elizabeth b.
m.
Daniel b.
Joshua b.
Benajah b.
Justus b.
m.
Hester b.
m.
April 17, 1724.
Dec. 22, 1725.
Middletown, Feb. 1, 1753, George Stephens.
Oct. 27, 1727.
Feb. 14, 1728/9.
Feb. 9, 1730/1.
Dec. 12, 1734J d. Sept. 24, 1771.
Boston, Oct. 20, 1762, Elizabeth Blake of Boston.
Middletown, Jan. 29, 1756, Thomas Snow.
V. WILLIAM TAYLOR
b.
d.
m
Ruth (Rich) Higgins b.
d.
Middletown, Sept. 2, 1722.
1777.
2nd, Middletown, Nov. 16, 1750.
Eastham, 1722.
Barkhamsted, Ct., June 1, 1813, age 91.
(She was the daughter of Mercy Knowles and widow of
Dea. Daniel Higgins, of Middletown, who died Oct., 1749, who
married her Oct. 27, 1743, in Eastham, Mass.
Children :
John b. Middletown, June 22, 1748.
Mary b.
Susannah b.
Mercy b.
William
Ozias
Ruth
b.
m.
b.
m.
b.
New Hartford, Ct., July 13, 1757; d. 1835, aged 78.
May 11, 1782, Abigail Case, dau. Daniel, Jr.
New Hartford, Mch. 19, 1760; d. 1814.
Amelia Humphrey.
Simsbury, Dec. 6, 1762.
142
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
David b. Simsbury, July 7, 1764; d. 1840.
m. 1st, Lucina Roberts ; d. 1816.
2nd, Marlow Johnson.
Isaiah b. Simsbury, June 27, 1768; d. 1811.
m. Zilpah Case, dau. of Uriah.
VI. WILLIAM TAYLOR, JR.
b. N. Hartford, July 13, 1757.
d. Barkhamsted, Mch. 23, 1835.
m. May 11, 1782.
Abigail Case b. Canton, Ct., Jan. 8, 1758.
d. Barkhamsted, June 20, 1830.
He served in the Revolutionary War from 1775 to June 10,
1783, when he was honorably discharged and then settled in
Barkhamsted.
His will of Aug. 10, 1827, and codicil of Oct. 3, 1835, pro-
bated Barkhamsted, Sept. 20, 1836, names wife Abigail, daugh-
ters Emma, Abba and Camilla; sons Virgil, Hector and Will-
iam, and granddaughters Eliza and Nancy Taylor.
Children, b. Simsbury:
William b. May 15, 1785, rem. to Jefferson, N. Y., 1814 (?) d.
Stamford, N. Y., Oct. 19, 1861.
m. 1st, Sept. 22, 1807, Nancy Wickham of Canton, Ct.
d. June 2, 1812.
2nd, Stamford, N. Y., Oct. 12, 1815, Nancy Rickey.
d. Oct. 9, 1844, age 54, dau. Thomas.
3rd, Stamford, N. Y., Sept. 15, 1850, Eunice Malli-
son, d. Nov. 12, 1882, age 76, dau. of Roswell.
Abigail b. Mch. 19, 1787; d. Middletown, Oct. 3, 1855.
m. Mch. 9, 1812, Nathaniel Bacon.
Camilla b. Nov. 27, 1788; d. Jan. 29, 1870; buried Harpersfield
Centre, N. Y.
xn. Dec. 31, 1807, Phineas Stratton; d. Aug. 29, 1868,
age 82.
Virgil b. Dec. 10, 1790 ; d. Dec. 16, 1861.
m. Barkhamsted, Sept. 2, 1812, Electa Gilbert, daugh-
ter of Asa of Hartford.
George b. June 25, 1793 ; killed by a tree Nov. 11, 1804.
Steuben b. June 2, 1795; d. unmarried, Barkhamsted, Oct. 22,
1824. (Brown, 1819).
Emma b. March 22, 1797. d. July 10, 1886.
m. Barkhamsted, Oct. 20, 1831, Evits Carter, son Noah.
Hector b. April 7, 1799; d. Cleveland, O., Nov. 17, 1874.
m. Sept. 4, 1822, Polly Carter, dau. Noah.
THE TAYLOR FAMILY 143
Genealogy of the Taylor Family in Descent From
Elder William Brewster
William Brewster was born in Scrooby, England, in 1560.
He immigrated to America in 1620, being one of the com-
pany of Pilgrims who came over in the "Mayflower." He
drafted the compact which forty-one of the Pilgrims signed
on the 21st day of November, 1620, in the cabin of the
"Mayflower", before landing, the purpose of which, it is
recited, was "For our better ordering and preservation and
furtherance of the ends aforesaid, and by virtue thereof,
to enact, constitute and frame (laws) unto which we prom-
ise all due submission and obedience." This document is
accounted the earliest written constitution in history. Elder
Brewster was one of the prominent founders of Plymouth
Colony, and is regarded by many as pre-eminently the leader
of the Pilgrims. He married Mary , who died in Plym-
outh in 1627. Elder Brewster himself died at Plymouth,
Massachusetts, April 16, 1644.
GENERATION I.
PATIENCE BREWSTER: Daughter of William Brewster;
married Thomas Prince, who was born in England in 1601; died
in Plymouth, Massachusetts, March 29, 1673. He was Governor
of the Colony of Plymouth in 1637-1638 and 1657-1673; Member of
Council of War, and Commissioner of the United Colonies. He
came over in the "Fortune" in 1621.
GENERATION II.
MERCY PRINCE: Daughter of Patience Brewster Prince;
married the 14th day of February, 1649, Major John Freeman, who
was born in England in 1627; died in Massachusetts, 1718. He
was a captain in King Philip's War in 1675; Deputy to General
Court in 1685; and First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas
after the union of Plymouth with Massachusetts. He came over
in the "Abigail" in 1635.
GENERATION III.
MERCY FREEMAN: Daughter of Mercy Prince Freeman;
born July, 1659; married Samuel Knowles, of Eastham, Decem-
ber, 1679.
144 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
GENERATION IV.
MERCY KNOWLES: Daughter of Mercy Freeman Knowles;
born September 13, 1681; married Thomas Rich of Eastham, July
23, 1701.
GENERATION V.
RUTH RICH : Daughter of Mercy Knowles Rich ; born in
Eastham, 1722; died in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, 1813; married,
first, Deacon Daniel Higgins, October 27, 1743, and married, second,
William Taylor, November 16, 1750.
GENERATION VI.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, Junior: Son of William and Ruth Rich
Higgins Taylor ; born 1757 ; married Abigail Case ; died March 23,
1835.
GENERATION VII.
HECTOR TAYLOR : Son of William Taylor, Jr., and Abigail
Case; born April 7, 1799; married Polly Carter, daughter of Noah
Carter, September 4, 1822 ; died November 17, 1874.
EMMA TAYLOR: Daughter of William Taylor, Jr., and Abi-
gail Case ; born March 22, 1797 ; married Evits Carter, son of Noah
Carter, October 20, 1831.
GENERATION VIII.
Children of Hector and Polly Carter Taylor:
(a) VIRGIL CORYDON TAYLOR: Born August 4, 1838;
married Margaret M. Sackett, June 23, 1863.
(b) ANN TAYLOR: Born November 9, 1834; married An-
drew J. Foster, January 29, 1860; died June 23, 1906, without is-
sue surviving.
(c) KATHERINE M.TAYLOR: Born January 17, 1845 ; mar-
ried John L. Romer, January 25, 1872; died July 16, 1915.
GENERATION IX.
(a) Children of Virgil Corydon Taylor and Margaret Sackett
Taylor.
HARRIET E. TAYLOR: Born December 25, 1864; married
Doctor Frank E. Bunts, October 29, 1888.
KATHERINE TAYLOR: Born February 3, 1866; married,
first, L. Dudley Dodge, Setember 19, 1888 ; married, second, Richard
O. Carter, November 21, 1904.
GRACE M. TAYLOR: Born September 6, 1872; married John
B. Cochran, October 26, 1892.
ALEXANDER S. TAYLOR: Born April 3, 1869; married
Clara F. Law, May 16, 1894.
(b) Children of John L. and Katherine Taylor Romer:
RAY TAYLOR ROMER: Born October 10, 1874.
FLORENCE E. ROMER: Born December 21, 1876; married
Reverend Charles C. Albertson, D.D., November 8, 1899.
MABEL ROMER: Born November 20, 1881; married Harold
H. Baker, M.D., September 5, 1907.
HECTOR TAYLOR AND POLLY CARTER HIS WIFE
ANN TAYLOR FOSTER
THE TAYLOR FAMILY 145
GENERATION X.
(a) KATHERINE R. ALBERTSON: Daughter of Reverend
Charles C Albertson and Florence Romer Albertson; born October
26, 1900.
(b) JOHN SIMEON BAKER: Son of Harold H. and Mabel
Romer Baker, born August 20, 1916.
(c) MARGARET DODGE: Daughter of L. Dudley Dodge
and Katherine Taylor, his wife; born September 2, 18G9 ; married
Levi A. Johnson, October 24, 1911.
(d) WILSON DODGE: Son of L. Dudley Dodge and Kath-
erine Taylor Dodge; born March 16, 1898.
(e) CLARA T. BUNTS: Daughter of Doctor Frank E. and
Harriet Taylor Bunts; born March 9, 1890; married Edward C.
Dauost, April 24, 1912.
(f) ALEXANDER T. BUNTS: Son of Doctor Frank and
Harriet Taylor Bunts; born March 9, 1897.
(g) VIRGIL CORYDON TAYLOR: Son of Alexander and
Clara Law Taylor ; born December 16, 1895.
(h) HARRIET T. COCHRAN: Daughter of John B. and
Grace Taylor Cochran; born October 16, 1895.
GENERATION XL
(a) FRANCES B. DAUOST: Daughter of Edward C. and
Clara Bunts Dauost; born February 12, 1913.
(b) EDWARD B. DAUOST: Son of Edward C. and Clara
Bunts Dauost; born July 11, 1915.
(c) CLARK JOHNSON : Son of Levi A. and Margaret Dodge
Johnson; born January 29, 1913.
A Brief Account of William Taylor, Jr.,
In The American Revolution.
When the first news reached him that "the shot heard
around the world" had been fired by the "embattled farm-
ers," at Lexington, he, then scarcely eighteen years old,
enlisted as a private in the company of Captain Amos Will-
cox, of Simsbury, Connecticut, in what was known as the
Lexington Alarm, about April 21, 1775 ; but as there were
more troops than the colony could then equip for service,
they were discharged at the end of three days.
Arrangements for the equipment df the troops having
been meanwhile effected, he enlisted again as a private in
146 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Captain Abel Pettibone's company, Second Continental Regi-
ment, and served from May 5, 1775, to December 18, fol-
lowing. The various companies did not wait to be formed
into a regiment, but marched to Lexington separately. The
regiment was in or about Boston at the time of the battle of
Bunker Hill, portions of it participating in that engage-
ment.
After the battle of White Plains, in October, 1776, he
enlisted as a private for the third time in Captain Ozias Mar-
vin's company, Ninth Militia Regiment, General Wooster's
brigade, and served from October 24th to December 25th,
along the Westchester County border.
On January 10, 1777, he enlisted as a private for the
fourth time, for the term of the war, in Capt. Walbridge's
company, Colonel Charles Webb's regiment, in the "Conti-
nental Line" ; but on the army roll he was reported and paid
as sergeant from February 10, 1777, to January 1, 1780. He
served during the following summer and fall along the Hud-
son River, under the command of General Israel Putnam.
On November 14, 1777, the regiment was ordered to join
General Washington's army, in Pennsylvania, and on De-
cember 8, was engaged in the sharp action at Whitemarsh,
where a number of its officers and men were killed and
wounded. He wintered at Valley Forge, 1777-78, and
fought June 28, following, in the battle of Monmouth. He
was afterwards assigned to the Second Connecticut Brigade,
General Huntington, at White Plains, and wintered 1778-79
with the division at Redding. He served on the east side
of the Hudson with General Heath's wing, during the oper-
ations of 1779, and was engaged under General Anthony
Wayne in the storming of Stony Point, July 15, 1779,
wintering 1779-80 at Morristown, where he served on the
outposts. His name was borne on the muster rolls of the
army up to and including December, 1780, but the records,
which were incomplete, do not show the nature and extent
of his services between that time and December, 1782. In
THE TAYLOR FAMILY 147
January, 1783, he was commissioned as sergeant in the Third
Connecticut Regiment, Colonel Samuel B. Webb, to rank as
such from April 1, 1780. He was honorably discharged
June 10, 1783.
Upon the passage of the Act authorizing the payment of
pensions to Revolutionary soldiers who had rendered gallant
and meritorious services in the war, he made application for
a pension, April 6, 1819, which was allowed from May 25th
of that year at the rate of $8 per month, and it was paid
at the Connecticut agency. His residence at the time of
making his application was Barkhamsted, Connecticut,
whence he had removed from Simsbury shortly after the
war, and where he died March 23, 1835, at the age of
seventy-eight years.
Death of Hector Taylor.
On yesterday morning, in the seventy-sixth year of his age,
Hector Taylor died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. A. J.
Foster, No. 262 Prospect Street, and the funeral occurs at 11 A. M.
on next Friday.
The deceased was born April 7, 1799, in Canton, Hartford Count)',
Connecticut, and was married September 4, 1822, to Miss Polly
Carter, with whom he spent forty-three years of happy married
life. Three children were born unto them, all of whom are living.
An adopted daughter is also living and now residing in Illinois. Mr.
Taylor removed from Connecticut to Ohio in 1832, and settled in
Twinsburg, Summit County. He was for fifty-eight years an active
business man, ever foremost in all movements of a progressive na-
ture calculated to advance the interests and well-being of those
around him and the community in which he lived. He was a man
of peculiarly broad and benevolent character, ready to do good, and
in the long years of a varied and eventful life he maintained a
strictly Christian character. For fifty-four years he has preserved
an active church membership, being a member at the time of his
decease of the East Cleveland Congregational Church.
In the years 1837-8, Mr. Taylor lived in what is now a portion of
this city known as East Madison Avenue, then a sparsely settled
district, the now prosperous city of Cleveland being then a mere
village. His wife dying in 1867, he again removed to this city, and
making it his permanent home, resided with a son and daughter.
During eight months of illness, an illness of a peculiarly aggra-
vated and distressing character, no word of complaint or repining
ever passed his lips. He endured to the end and has gone to his
eternal reward. — Cleveland Leader, Nov. 18, 1874.
148 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Mrs. John L. Romer.
Katherine Taylor, daughter of Hector and Polly Carter Taylor,
was born in Twinsburg, O., January 17, 1845, and died in Buffalo,
N. Y., July 16, 1915.
She was married January 25, 1872, to Mr. John Lockwood Romer,
who, with three children, Mrs. Charles C. Albertson, of Brooklyn;
Mrs. Harold H. Baker, of Rochester, N. Y. ; and Ray T. Romer, of
Lancaster, N. Y., and one brother, Virgil C. Taylor, of Cleveland,
survive her.
Mrs. Romer came of New England ancestry, her father, Hector
Taylor, being descended in the seventh generation from Elder Will-
iam Brewster, of the Mayflower company. Her parents moved
from Barkhamsted, Conn., to the Western Reserve in 1826. In her
young womanhood she became a member of the Euclid Avenue
Presbyterian Church of Cleveland, but since 1886, when Mr. and
Mrs. Romer became residents of Buffalo, she had been identified
with the Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church of that
city. She was an active worker in the women's societies of the con-
gregation, and during the years of Mr. Romer's superintendency
of the Bible School and presidency of the Methodist Union, dis-
pensed hospitality with dignity and grace. Her pastors and their
families, and those of the resident bishops in Buffalo, have reason
to remember her courtesy and thoughtfulness.
For fifteen years Mrs. Romer had been in such precarious health
as to forbid her attendance at the services of the church. The last
two years were marked with keen suffering. Yet she was not
without comfort in the faith that "through the close bars of pain
that shut us from our kind, God stoopeth down to make us one with
Him." Physicians, nurses and friends who watched her as her
path dipped low and long toward the valley of shadow all bear
witness to the rare and saintly qualities of her character. Radiant
in girlhood; beautiful in young womanhood; winsome in maturity;
patient when pain's furnace fires were kindled, her life was rich
with love and grace.
The funeral services were held at the family residence on Lin-
wood Avenue, Buffalo, Sunday afternoon, Julv 18, and were con-
ducted by her pastor, Dr. Philip Frick, and C. C. Albertson. Burial
was in Forest Lawn. — New York Christian Advocate.
FOREST LAWN CEMETERY
THE CARTER FAMILY.
The founder of the New England branch of the Carter
family was Robert Carter, who died November 6th, 1751,
at Killingworth, Conn. His children were Benjamin, Wil-
liam, John, Samuel, Mary, Nathaniel and Joseph.
William was born at Killingworth, Conn., and on May 8th, 1773,
married Ann Yale, daughter of Captain Theophilus Yale. Of this
marriage there was born one son, Thaddeus, on April 8th, 1735,
who married Lucy Andrews.
This son Thaddeus had one son, Noah Andrews Carter, born at
Wallingford, Conn., in 1777, who in 1798 married Lydia Gaylord.
The children of this marriage were: Chloe, born October 22,
1799, who married Asa Upton; Thaddeus Andrews, born March 24,
1802, who married, first, Esther Marshall, May 12, 1828, and second,
Margaret McKisson, Dec. 29, 1845; Polly, born August 24, 1804,
who married Hector Taylor, Sept. 4, 1822; Evits, born Dec. 24,
1806, who married Emma Taylor; Hiram, born January 24, 1810,
who married Eliza Taylor; Joseph Henry, born November 1st,
1812 ; married Nancy Taylor ; Caroline, born May 22, 1815 ; married
Edwin Richardson.
Ruth Rich, a descendant of Elder William Brewster, married,
first, Deacon Daniel Higgins, and after his death, November 16,
1750, married William Taylor.
GENERATION VI. William Taylor, Jr., son of William Taylor
and Ruth Rich Higgins his wife, was born July 13, 1757, in New
Hartford, Conn.; married May 11, 1782, Abigail Case, born Janu-
ary 8, 1758, Canton, Conn. He died March 23, 1835, she June 20,
1830, Barkhamstead.
GENERATION VII. Emma Taylor, born March 22, 1797, died
July 10, 1886 ; married October 20, 1831, Evits Carter, born Decem-
ber 24, 1806; died February 17, 1887.
GENERATION VIII. Walter S. Carter, born February 24, 1833,
married, first, October 8, 1855, Marie Antoinette Smith, born Janu-
ary 25, 1836, died January 2, 1865, and (third) December 1, 1870,
Harriet Cook, born December 4, 1848.
149
150 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
GENERATION IX. Colin Smith Carter, Emma Carter Dickin-
son, Antoinette Carter Hughes, Walter Frederick Carter, Leslie
Taylor Carter.
GENERATION X. Howard Dickinson, Burgess Dickinson, Ed-
win Dickinson, Antoinette Dickinson, Charles Evans Hughes, Helen
Hughes, Colin Esterbrook Carter, Philip Van Gelder Carter.
Evits Carter, who married Emma Taylor, had two chil-
dren— Walter S. Carter and Chloe Carter Lee.
Walter S. Carter's children and grand-children are named
under above titles, Generation IX and Generation X.
The children of Chloe Carter Lee are Gerald Lee, Chris-
tabel Lee, Grace Lee and Theodore Lee.
Caroline Carter Richardson, wife of Edwin Richardson,
had six children, viz. : Julian Richardson, Carrie Richardson
Mooney, Rose Richardson Murfey and Daniel Richardson,
William Richardson and John Richardson.
Julian married and had four children : Gertrude, Edwin,
John and May.
Rose married and had one son, Edwin.
Polly Carter, wife of Hector Taylor, had three children :
Ann Taylor Foster, Virgil Corydon Taylor and Katherine
Taylor Romer. The names of her grand-children and great-
grand-children appear in the records of the Taylor and
Romer families.
One hundred and sixty Carters had graduated from
Oxford before 1886; several had received the honor of
knighthood, and the family arms belonged to almost all of
the names in southern, and especially southwestern Eng-
land. Their description is two lions combattant, sable;
crest, a talbot passant on a mural crown ; motto, sub libertate
quientem.
William Wallace Lee in his address at the Centennial
Celebration of Barkhamsted, where many of the early
Taylors and Carters lived, said:
"William Taylor reared a large family, of which Emma
(Mrs. Evits Carter) is the sole survivor. Some years later
came Noah Carter, and settled in the Southwest District.
THE CARTER FAMILY i51
Between this family and the family of William Taylor a
curious relationship exists. William Taylor had sons-
William, Virgil, Hector and a daughter Emma ; Noah Carter
had sons— Evits, Andrews, Hiram, Joseph and a daughter
Polly. Evits Carter married Emma Taylor ; Hiram married
a daughter of William Taylor, Jr. ; Joseph married a daugh-
ter of Virgil Taylor; Hector Taylor married Polly Carter.
Now I doubt if there is a Barkhamsted boy or girl well
enough educated to tell the exact degree of kin between the
posterity, for all of these families reared children."
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